


My best enemy

by AgentOfShip



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Academy Era, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, academy au, very little angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2019-04-14 14:28:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 35,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14137950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentOfShip/pseuds/AgentOfShip
Summary: Fitz and Simmons are the youngest recruits the Academy's ever had but despite their professors trying to get them to work together and maybe become friends, they just can't stand each other. That is until Fitz gets into a bad car accident and they find themselves having to spend a lot more time together. And maybe they'll find out that they don't hate each other all that much after all.Another Academy AU where FitzSimmons start by hating each other and quickly realize they just have so much in common! But I had this idea in mind for a while and I loooove that trope so hopefully you'll appreciate this one as well! Despite the premises, there's actually very little drama and angst in this story and actually quite a lot of fluffiness so be warned!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So here's the first chapter of this story. About half of it already written so hopefully I should be able to post at least once a week :) As always comments are very welcome!

"Simmons I told you I was getting the reagents, you were supposed to get the hot plate!" Fitz mumbled with an annoyed huff as he got back to their temporary common lab bench. 

"Ugh Fitz how on Earth was I supposed to hear that?" Jemma sighed, letting out an even louder and slightly exaggerated annoyed huff as she walked back to the side of the room to get the missing items. 

"Then what did you hear?" He asked impatiently as he followed and helped her carry everything, which made her roll her eyes 'cause she was perfectly capable of carrying a hot plate and a few small items on her own, thank you very much.

"I don't know... something about gay agents and their palate ..." She shrugged and he looked annoyed and confused which kind of delighted her.

"But that doesn’t even make any sense. Why would I say that?" 

"Don’t ask me!" She cried out. "Between the mumbling and the accent I don't understand half of what you say most of the time anyway!" She added as they both started installing every equipment and chemicals needed for their experiment. 

"Oh please miss Sheffield, it's not like you talk like the bloody Queen yourself!"

"Who's Queen Youssef? And why are talking about her body, we're supposed to be working it's not the time to ..." She started, trying her best to hide the small smirk tugging at her lips but he cut her off. She could easily deduce what he actually said most of the time but he didn’t need to know that and it was so much more fun that way.

"Fine have it your own way ... but you English folks are just bitter because everybody hates you anyway ..."

Jemma rolled her eyes and took the beakers from him as they carried on with preparing the experiment they had to complete together. Honestly, she didn’t get why they had to work together on this. She could easily do it on her own, she could even do it in her sleep. So just because they were the same age and the youngest recruits the Academy has ever had and both British, they should be paired up every occasion they get and become automatically friends? It’s been two months since the start of year and it was obviously never going to happen.

Still, as they kept on bickering about every little thing, the experiment took form and even though he had, in her opinion, all the wrong ways of doing it, he seemed just as familiar as she was with it and without really realizing it, they were finished while most of their classmates were still halfway through it. Ironically, from the way everyone glared at them, they were the only ones who remained undistracted by the way they talked over each other constantly like two fighting siblings.

"I knew you’d work well together!" Professor Callahan said with a delighted smile as he came closer.

"Oh no I would have been faster on my own!" They both exclaimed almost in perfect synchrony and as they turned to each other, annoyance and surprise evident on their faces, Professor Callahan couldn’t help chuckling. 

"So you’re all done with the experiment right? Is it all written down as well? » He asked.

"Oh yeah it’s all here, just give me a moment to proof read it and …" Fitz answered as he turned towards his notebook but before he had the time to say more, Jemma cut him off.

"Actually, I also took the liberty of writing my own report, see Dr Fitz’s writing is a bit hard to read …" 

Of course, it was an understatement. Both her parents were medical doctors and their writing was easier to read.

"Oh sorry Jane Austen, we didn’t have calligraphy lessons at my public school." He hissed at her and she rolled her eyes all the way to the back of her head.

"Oh please, I just learned to properly form letter back when I was four. I mean what is that word even supposed to be? Pancakes? Peanuts? That doesn't make any sense …" She asked, taking his notebook from him.

"Hey don’t touch my things you …"

"Cadets!" Professor Callahan cut them off, his tone harsh enough for them to look at him with a slightly sheepish expression. 

"Look how well you worked together today, imagine what you could accomplish if you just stopped bickering for one minute!"

"Yes it really is too bad but …" Jemma started.

"Yes it’s too bad because you’re gonna have to do it anyway!" Professor Callahan declared before he walked away from their lab bench. 

For once, Fitz seemed to agree with her because his face mirrored her own worry at their teacher's ominous sentence.

"Class, look up and listen to me for a minute!" Professor Callahan said much louder to catch the attention of the whole room. "Before leaving today you’ll come to me and I’ll give you an assignment that should keep you occupied for the next six weeks and you’ll be working with the partner you had today." Jemma shared another almost terrified look with Fitz. "No exception, no changes and you will have to work TOGETHER …" He added with a pointed look towards Fitz and Simmons. "…during class. Amongst other things, this should teach you that you don’t always choose the people you work with, especially if you end working on the field at some point …" 

"Well fuck …" Jemma let out under her breath. 

"Simmons!" Fitz cried out in fake outrage. "Language!"

"Ugh!" 

-0-0-0-

"And couldn't this wait 'till tomorrow morning?" Fitz let out impatiently as he tried to balance his phone between his shoulder and his ear while checking to see if his wallet was still in his backpack. He had exactly 15 minutes before the store closed and even if he usually didn't mind a diet consisting mostly of pizza, Chinese food and ice cream, he had to admit that he was actually starting to crave some fruits and vegetables.

"No I need to check those results with you so I can start properly typing the report and save us some time for Friday's lab time. The quicker we're finished, the quicker we get to use those hours to work on our own!" She replied and he rolled his eyes even though she did have a point.

"Well I cannot disagree with you on that but come on, we've done like 90% of it and it's only been three weeks!"

"Callie and Milton are starting to catch up on us and ..."

"Fine but just email me the datas you need me to check." He cut her off. If there was something they had in common it was their competitiveness and she apparently knew how to use it to her advantage. "I'll take care of it as soon as I'm home, I need to buy food before the store closes."

"Fine but don't forget!"

"Of course I won't. I can't let cabbage head one up us!" He replied with a smirk and ... was that an actual chuckle he heard from her?

"Oh and speaking about emails, could you use these more? I swear I've had more phone calls from you in the past three weeks than I've had like all year ... total!"

"What? With you being so charming all the time, I really wonder why you don't have any friends calling you!" She teased and he felt his heart clench as he was rendered speechless for a moment before he squared his jaw and regained his composure. 

"Yeah right. Goodbye Simmons." He let out dryly and hung up before she's had the time to react. He shouldn’t have been so hurt by her teasing, after all they've said worse things to each other and she was only using the very obvious trap he'd set for himself. He would probably have done the same if the roles were reversed but this one just hit too close to home and he suddenly didn't feel the energy to throw something mean back at her. He liked to outsmart her more than anything, there was no fun in being mean … not that their bickering was usually fun. Not at all.

In retrospect, it was probably why he was distracted enough not to look both ways when the light turned green before he started crossing the street. Which would not have been a problem if the man in the red car hadn't been too busy arguing with his wife on the phone to see the light had turned red for him.

-0-0-0-

"Fitz! This is the fourth and last message I’m leaving on your voice mail! I knew I couldn't trust you to send me that email but I didn't think you ... I’ve waited for you in the lab for hours this morning and I swear you better have a very good excuse for not showing up, something like the worst flu you ever had or a really terrible accident! Call me before the end of the day or I’ll ask for a new lab partner … gosh I knew working with you would be a pain in the arse but at least I thought you’d be professional …" Jemma cried out into her phone before hanging up and angrily slamming it down her desk. 

To think that she’d been feeling guilty for the whole thing about him not having friends. It was just their usual teasing and she usually didn’t care if she made him annoyed or angry but he'd sounded almost ... hurt before he practically hung up on her. And that would just be one step too far. After all, she couldn’t stand him and he was infuriating most of the time but she was never mean without a good reason for it and he never actually did or said something bad.

Well until now, Jemma thought as she absentmindedly scrolled through the Academy's online message board to see if she could find a trace of what Fitz might have been up to. At least, it was a good thing she'd decided to wait until she'd see him to apologize or at least say something friendly so he would hopefully forget her hurtfull comment. After he made her waste a whole morning worth of work without giving her an excuse, she couldn’t care less about his feelings. 

Just as she was about to turn off her computer, change clothes and go for a run to let out some steam, her phone rang. 

Clearing her throat, she prepared herself to shout but when she grabbed it, she realized it wasn’t actually Fitz calling but some unknown number. She hesitated for a moment, not wanting the call to last too long so she could go out to run before dark, but curiosity got the best of her. 

"Hello ... uh yes I know him why ... yeah that's because we're working together we're not … oh … oh no ... and when was that? ... oh I don't know if he'd be happy to ... no yes okay I'll be there, thanks. Goodbye."

Feeling her heart beat surprisingly fast in her chest as guilt threatened to overwhelm her, Jemma grabbed her coat and handbag and went for the door, her legs working almost automatically without her really deciding to move. She always thought of herself as being a nice person, with good intentions most of the time, and she couldn't believe the awful things she just said to him on the phone. Hoping something terrible had happened just because he made her lose a few hours and now … What if he didn't … No she couldn't think like that, he was young and supposedly healthy, he'd get through it. Fortunately, she'd memorized almost all the routes of all the buses passing close to the campus long ago and knew which one would take her there in less than twenty minutes so she quickened her pace and hoped she wouldn't have to wait for too long at the bus stop. 

It's only when she reached the main entrance of the hospital that she realized she didn’t even know what she was even supposed to do once she got there. Was she supposed to bring flowers? That was what people usually did in these situations but they didn't even appreciate each other, it would most likely be awkward for the both of them. So what? Chocolates maybe? If there was something she noticed about her lab partner in the past few weeks, it was that he liked food. Chocolate felt a bit … romantic though. Well she could probably find something nice and … neutral at the gift shop and then she'd have ample time to think about what she would actually say to him when he wakes up.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks a lot to everyone who left kuddos and commented on this :) Hopefully you'll like this new chapter as well! Next chapter in about a week :)

As he slowly started to regain consciousness, the first thought that crossed Fitz's mind was that it must have been one hell of a party for him to be so out of it. Of course, as he regained a little bit more consciousness, he remembered that he still hadn't made any friend at the Academy or anywhere else in this country and however pathetic he could be, he wouldn't go as far as drinking on his own, not that anyone would sell him alcohol anyway. But it's when he finally found the courage to open his eyes a bit that the last few hours came back to him in a bit of a blur. That soreness in his muscles and fuzziness he was feeling were probably due to anesthetics and not alcohol. Now he remembered the car hitting him (thankfully not as hard as it could have thanks to his reflexes or he might not be waking up at all), the ambulance driving him to the hospital as he struggled to stay awake and then being rushed to surgery for his leg. He supposed he must have been unconscious all night and some of the day since he remembered the Sun was setting when he had this accident and now he could feel -even through his closed eyelids- that the Sun was definitely up and probably high in the sky. The beeping of the machines and the rays of light coming through the windows were almost too much and he considered just fall back into sleep and enjoy the surprising comfort of the hospital bed until the drugs were completely out of his system. 

But then he felt a presence, someone sitting on the chair next to his bed. A woman from what he could tell, his vision being still quite blurry. At first, he thought of his mom but he clearly said he didn't want them to call her. There was no need for her to worry and she wouldn't have had the time to make the trip so quickly anyway. 

Blinking several times to force his eyes to focus a little bit more, he thought he could make out the face of… 

Jemma Simmons?!

No, that wasn't right. Why would she be here? How would she even know he was here? Still, with her soft chocolate curls and big doe eyes looking down at the book she was reading, it really looked a lot like her. And with the sun hitting her from behind, there was a halo of light all around her and she almost looked like an …

No! no no no! Stupid drugs! She looked like his annoying lab partner who, for some totally incomprehensible reason, was seating at his bedside, most likely waiting for him to wake up. He still felt really drowsy and considered just going back to sleep once more and wait for her to leave, but sleeping under her surveillance would just feel too weird.

"Looks like I died on the operating table and was sent to hell …" He croaked, surprising himself with the roughness of his voice. "Mom was right about the afterlife after all …" He added and Simmons lifted her head from the book she was reading, trying to mask the surprise and -was it relief- by rolling her eyes at him.

Yep that was definitely her. 

"Well you do look even paler than usual so who knows?" She replied as she carefully slid a bookmark in her book, giving him an exaggerated and not at all sincere smile. 

Still, she stood up from her chair and came closer to look down at him with an expression that was definitely new on her face when directed at him. It was almost … soft? Then, turning around, she filled a glass of water from the bottle on his bedside table, put a straw in it and placed it before him so he could drink a little. He was so surprised by the gentleness of her gestures and the fact that she knew exactly what he needed that he didn't even question it and just drank. 

"Thanks …" He said, his voice slightly less crow-like once he'd downed almost all of it, and she gave him an actual small but sincere smile.

"So … how are you feeling?" She asked and if he wasn't still feeling so weird, like there was a strange echo in the room, he would have sworn there was a slight tremor in her voice. Did she actually worry about him? 

"Hum … like those posters we had in high school were right and you really shouldn't do drugs …" He sighed and this time he was positive: she chuckled at his lame joke. Probably a pity laugh though. Maybe he was in an even worse state than he felt like. "But other than that … alright I guess. I'm just really really confused … would you mind hum … refreshing my mind a bit?" 

"Wondering why I'm here?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. 

"Yeah, amongst other things …" 

"Well I suppose you still remember getting hit by a car, right?"

"Yeah and then I got to the hospital and then I went to surgery and then …" 

"You had a bad reaction to the anesthetics." She cut him off. "They said you didn't want to call anyone but since it was gonna take some time for you to wake up, if you … woke up at all …" She trailed off, her voice definitely betraying some kind of emotion but he decided not to say anything about it. "Anyway, they thought you'd like to see a friendly face when you wake up and since I was apparently the only person you had on the phone in the last few weeks, they supposed …" 

"Told you …" He grinned and she rolled her eyes but he couldn't help noticing a bit of a blush on her cheeks. "So why didn't you tell them we …"

"… weren't friends? Trust me I did, they just wouldn't take no for an answer!" She cut him off. 

That didn't sound very convincing but he had more pressing questions anyway. 

"Okkkayyy … So how long have I been out? twelve? eighteen hours maybe?" He asked and she let out a weird nervous laughter, which made him frown in confusion.

"Fitz! It's been four days!" She almost cried out.

"Nooooo …" He breathed out. His accident was last night, he was pretty sure of it. But why would she lie to him about that? To torture him? No that didn't make any sense and it wasn't like he couldn't easily verify her claim.

"Do that!" She said, putting her hands on her cheeks. 

He didn't know what that meant but still, without thinking, he did the same. 

"Oh…" 

"See? I'm pretty sure you can't grow a beard like that overnight …" She said before a teasing grin tucked at her lips. "A surprisingly very red beard …" 

"I am not ashamed of my Scottish ancestors!" He retorted, which only made her grin even wider. 

"So you stayed here, waiting for me to wake up all this time?" He asked, changing the subject with a teasing waggle of his eyebrows, which didn't help with the slight lingering headache but it got him a very satisfying roll of her eyes and a sigh. 

"Oh yeah, I sat at your bedside reading poetry and counting the hours until I could hear your annoying voice again. Even gave you a sponge bath …" She said in a fake enamored voice.

"Ah ah ah that's hilarious Simmons …"

"That's a really cute birthmark on your left butt cheek …" She grinned. 

"What? No you didn't ..." He squeaked in a high pitched voice as he reached uselessly to hide himself better under the fine sheets of his hospital bed. Like it would change a thing if she actually saw him naked already. But no that wasn't possible. Why would she even do it? Would she really go to all this trouble to make fun of him later? But then how could she know about his ...

"I'm kidding Fitz!" She said with a small chuckle. "Your mom told me about it."

"Oh ... ah ah that's so funny Simmons. Shame on you for torturing a man when he's at his weakest! Can't believe you ... WAIT WHAT? How do you ... When ... how did you talk to my mom?" Fitz stammered. Somehow, he felt like Jemma Simmons talking with his mom was potentially way worse than her seeing him naked. After all he was a bit on the skinny side but he knew he had nothing to be ashamed of and if he believed the only girl he ever made out with, he even had a really nice butt. But her mom, who had no notion of privacy, chatting with his enemy well ... that was a recipe for catastrophe.

"I called her Fitz!" She cut him off in his internal ramblings. 

"But why?"

"Ugh Fitz honestly … You've been unconscious for four days, you had us-your doctors … worried. She needed to know, what if you never woke up? Can you imagine what she would have felt like knowing her only son died alone in a hospital thousands of miles away from home without her even knowing about it?" Simmons admonished him and it sounded suspiciously like her mom was speaking directly through her and it felt weird and wrong in so many ways. Still, it made sense and now that he thought about it, if the roles were reversed, he would have been pretty mad at her for not telling him. 

"Oh …" He let out sheepishly and he must have really looked quite pathetic because she added in a much softer tone. 

"But hum … I guess it was kind of thoughtful and … courageous in a way. Not wanting to worry her ... But now she knows and she's really pissed!" She grinned slightly. "I guess it's a chance it took you so long to wake up or it might have been way worse. She's the one who suggested that joke about your birthmark … she seems to believe you've always been a bit too prudish …"

"You must be enjoying this soooo much …" He sighed. 

"Ah well it's only fair I get something in return for coming here every day since Friday!" She replied with a smile he couldn't quite decipher. It wasn't warm exactly but not teasing either. It was all so strange. 

There was a moment of silence as their eyes somehow remained locked on each other. 

"So hum … Why did you come really? When they called you. And why did you come back? I mean you could have said you were busy or that we really weren't friends or … I don't know, anything …" He asked, keeping his tone as soft as he could. He didn't want to appear ungrateful, he was just really curious as to why she went through so much effort for him. 

"I … I just-I thought …" She stammered, looking down at her lap where she was wringing her hands together in an apparent bout of shyness he'd never seen on her before. "No one should be alone in the hospital …" She finally let out in a quiet voice. "… or worse wake up alone without a friendly or well ... at least a familiar face..." She corrected herself and they both smiled at that, making it hard for Fitz to remember how deeply she usually aggravated him. "to make this all less … overwhelming … So I thought I'd keep you company for at least a little time …"

He couldn't understand why she looked so embarrassed telling him all that when he thought it might possibly be the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for him, especially considering she couldn’t stand him. And OH GOD NO, now he could feel himself tearing up! It had to be because of the drugs still coursing his veins. Yeah that was it, like this time he had two wisdom teeth pulled out and took a ton of painkillers and ended up crying his eyes out when he thought about getting a dog but then thinking how sad he would be when the dog would die and how awful it would be to tell his imaginary wife and kids even though he was only fourteen at the time.

Fortunately, Simmons didn't seem to notice his sudden emotivity, too busy that she was smoothing out inexistant wrinkles on her blouse. And a few seconds later, she came back to something that felt more familiar.

"You know you really are quite boring when you sleep ... Never thought I'd ever wish for you to speak ..." She teased and he rolled his eyes.

"Well I'm so sorry! I'll consider that next time I get into a serious accident ..." He retorted dryly before his face went back to something softer as he couldn't help imagining Jemma Simmons, the person who liked him less in the world taking so much of her time just so he wouldn't be alone when he wakes up. 

"But hum ... thank you Jemma ... This is really ... nice ... I mean more than that even, most people wouldn't even have visited me ... I don't - don't know what to say ..." He trailed off, feeling himself blush. 

"Well making you speechless is a reward in itself!"

"But I thought you wanted me to talk?" He teased.

"No I just said I'd rather speak with you than watch you sleep!" She glared at him but for once there was no real bite to it and soon enough her slightly embarrassed expression was back and this time he couldn't hold back his curiosity. 

"Is there something else you're not telling me?" 

"Nope no ... I just-oh fine, I’m a terrible liar and you'll find out sooner or later anyway!" She sighed, flopping back into her chair. "Maybe I feel a little bit guilty because I've gotten exaggeratedly mad at you for not showing up in class Friday morning and I might have left you a voice mail saying I hoped something horrible happened to you to explain your absence ..." 

Fitz's eyes went wide for a moment and Simmons seemed to deflate completely.

"I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have said something like that, I didn't even mean it and …no no no don't do that please!" 

Jemma tried to reach for his phone before he could but even in his drug induced clumsiness, he managed to get it first, holding on it tightly so she couldn't take it off him. 

With a few swipes and clicks, he was connected to his voicemail, the robotic voice on the other end announcing that he had in fact four voice mails and he raised an eyebrow at her, trying his best not to grin. She obviously felt terrible about it and he wasn't about to let her know that the idea mostly amused him when he could torture her just a little bit longer. Her first voice mail was quite angry but still polite and not really mean. The second, on the other hand, was quite different already and he was starting to get a little scared about what the fourth one would sound like. In the otherwise silent room, she could obviously hear her own muffled voice coming through the phone. 

"Fitz really, there's no use listening to those, I was obviously angry I didn't really mean …"

"Nooooo" He cut her off with an exaggerated gasp and eyes widening at the use of a language that sounded so unlike her. 

"Fitz please …" She almost whined as she hid her face in her hands. She obviously felt really terrible, maybe he'd tortured her enough. Almost enough. Just a little bit more and he'd stop.

"Hey! How do you even know my middle name?" He cried out as he heard the beginning of her third message that sounded awfully like one from his mom when he'd forgot to call her for some time. 

"Ah that's hum … I-I did … I don't really remember, probably just …" She started stuttering what was clearly a lie considering she was blushing a deep shade of red and the fact that Jemma Simmons didn't ever forget anything. She'd reminded him of that often enough in the two months they'd known each other. 

And then came the fourth message and he had to admit it was really mean and he would have been shocked and even a little bit hurt if she wasn't in front of him and looking like she wanted the ground to swallow her whole. His stupid drug induced brain even found her kind of cute and it was actually nice to see her anything other than smug, annoyed or condescending and just acting like a flawed human being for once. Still, he couldn’t help insisting just one more little time.

"Simmons! That's a horrible thing to wish to someone, I could have died in that accident!" 

"I know! Why do you think I felt so bad for the past few days?" She cried out, burying her face in her hands again. And when she looked up a few seconds later, maybe it was just his eyesight that still wasn't completely clear, but it looked like her eyes were tearing up. And panic started to settle because as much as he liked to tease her, he didn't think he could handle a crying Jemma and he didn't want to make her feel so guilty that she'd cry anyway, especially since she'd been so surprisingly nice and selfless. Those were just words said when she was angry, he might not have been much better if the roles were reversed. "I-I should probably go now, you don't need me anymore-not that you …" She started as she walked towards the chair to gather her stuff. There were actually several books, notebooks, a cardboard cup and even an half eaten pack of biscuits and he realized she really must have spent a lot of time here. "Anyway I'll tell your doctor you're awake on my way out, sorry again for the …"

"Jemma wait!" He cut her off, lightly grabbing her wrist. He didn't know if it was his softer tone or the fact that once more today, he'd called her by her given name, something he never did before, but she stopped and turned around to face him, looking surprised and a little confused. He couldn't blame her, this whole situation was so strange and improbable that he still wasn't completely sure he wasn't dreaming it all. "I'm sorry I was just teasing, I didn't mean to … you didn't have to come, that was really nice …" He said, until he realized his hand had slid down her wrist and he was basically holding her hand now. It took him another moment to react and quickly let it go but not before noticing how soft it was and how quite nicely it fitted inside his own larger one. All these months with almost no social interaction and even less display of affection towards anyone had taken its toll and only now that the drugs were making him more raw and emotional, did he realize how he'd missed it and how nice it felt, even towards his supposed enemy and with something as small as touching her hand. 

"Yeah?" She asked cautiously as she looked down at her own hand in surprise before looking back up at him, eyebrows still raised in disbelief. 

"Yeah … they were just words, pretty mean words but still only that and you couldn't know I actually had a really good excuse." He answered with what he hoped was a sincere smile and it seemed to work because she relaxed a little. 

"Still …" He added with a fake tone of outrage. "I can't believe you called me a ridiculous nitwit!" 

For a moment, she looked like she was about to apologize once more but then her eyes crossed his and she saw the mirth in them and they burst out laughing at the same time. 

"I swear, the last time someone called me a nitwit was Mrs McCraggy, my teacher when I was eight and she was a very very old lady!" He added, barely managing to contain his laugh and she only redoubled in laughter herself, sitting back on the chair, her head tilted back as she tried to catch her breath. 

"I'm sorry, that really was ... a ridiculous insult …" She managed to let out after a while, her voice still breathless and tainted with amusement, a wide smile tucking at her lips and a little pink tinting her cheeks. That was a nice look on her. "You're still a prat though …" She added just before throwing a small cushion at him. "… for trying to make me feel bad while I spent days taking care of everything while you were sleeping!" 

"Hey! stop throwing stuff at me, I was in a terrible accident remember?" He replied, trying to lift his arm and leg and quickly realizing it was a bad idea. He didn't even remember hurting his wrist in the accident and now he had a cast on that descended down to his second set of knuckles and rendered his hand pretty much unusable. 

"Please, if I wanted to hurt you with a cushion, I would have smothered you in your sleep!" She grinned.

"Fair point …"

"So …" He started after a moment of silence. "What did you do while you were waiting and trying to fight your killer instincts? Did you write a book or something?" He said, nodding towards her pile of books and notes and she chuckled.

"Actually, I spent quite a lot of time checking all your injuries and surgery reports. I looked up your doctors as well -you're in good hands by the way-. The injury on your leg is quite impressive -your tibia broke in two places- but it should heal completely, your wrist only has a small fracture and you broke a few small bones in your hand so that's going to take a little time but if you're careful and don't try to go too fast, there shouldn't be any lasting damage. The other bruises are benign and you apparently didn't hurt your head. All things considered, you've been pretty lucky and … what?" She interrupted herself when she saw the growing smile on his face. 

"Nothing just … again it's just such a nice thing to do … no one's ever done something like that for me …" He let out, feeling a little vulnerable basically revealing to the girl who couldn't stand him that he'd never had a real friend in his entire life. 

"Oh well … most people don't have the necessary phd to actually be able to understand all these reports anyway..." 

"Jemma you know what I mean …"

"Yeah of course I do!" 

"You were worried about me …" He insisted with a small grin. 

"Ugh please Fitz!" She groaned and it only made him grin a little wider. "We still have to work together for weeks, I had to make sure you brain was still functioning"

"Oh" He let out, his eyebrows raising in surprise.

"What?"

"It's just I … I thought you would have used this opportunity to find another lab partner …" He replied as he realized he was actually glad she didn't.

"Well I have to admit the whole accident thing was quite a good excuse for not showing up so I couldn't really blame you …" She said and he snorted. "And also, turns out you're not the worst lab partner I could have …"

"Oh really and why …"

"Oh don't get me wrong" she cut him off. "You're completely infuriating but I guess you're all also kind of … challenging and you know how to use your own brain. I have to work with Milton in another class…"

"Ugh Milton!" Fitz let out with a disgusted face and Jemma could only nod at his reaction.

"… all he does is agree with me on everything, never has a single idea of his own. I might as well have my teddy bear as a lab partner like when I was eight!" She finished and Fitz couldn't help laughing. 

"Nice … mine was a plush monkey but I get the idea …" he replied and it was her turn to laugh.

It was nice, this relaxed atmosphere between them and maybe it was the drugs talking but he felt some kind of connection with her. Maybe it was that thing all their teachers saw and that made them partner him up with Simmons every occasion they got. Maybe the fact that they were both young prodigies meant that they had more in common and that behind all the bickering and the snarky remarks and the apparent confidence, she felt as lonely as he did and as different from everyone else. 

His train of thoughts was interrupted by steps approaching his room and the door opening. But just as he expected a doctor or a nurse, it was a much more familiar voice he heard. 

"Is that laughing I'm hearing? I thought you two hated each other?" 

"Mum?" 

"Of course we do Ms Fitz! It's just a temporary truce while he's in the hospital." Jemma chirped before turning back towards Fitz. "Oh by the way Fitz, your mom flew in two days ago!" 

"You don't say!" He snapped back at her. 

"I told you to call me Aileen love" the older woman said with a soft smile before she moved towards her son's bed and a frown appeared on her forehead. "Leo, be nice to Jemma, she's lovely and she took care of you while you were alone because you were too stupid to call your own mother!" She chastised him. 

Aileen Fitz was hard to mistake for someone other than her son's mother. Despite being darker, her hair had that same thick curly quality to it, she had the same bright blue eyes and soft facial features and of course, an unmistakable Scottish accent. Not to mention that everyone said his weird sense of humor came from her. Not that it could come from anyone else anyway.

He was about to retort something in the line of "not wanting to worry her" and "being old enough to be on his own at the hospital" but then she engulfed him in a tight hug that took his breath away. From the other side of the room, Jemma was looking at them with a mix of amusement and something else he couldn't quite define. When he crossed her gaze though, she waggled her eyebrows at him exaggeratedly and it was completely ridiculous but he still had to bite his lip not to smile at it. 

"Well … I'm gonna go now Fitz, you're obviously in good hands." Jemma finally let out with a barely concealed smirk as Aileen proceeded to inspect all of her son's injuries while she chastised him for not being careful. Like it was his fault the car passed a red light when he was crossing the street.

Quickly enough, she finished gathering her books and stuff, put on her jacket and after giving Aileen a quick hug (was she usually this friendly to people she barely knew and was he the only exception?) and came to give Fitz a supremely awkward but surprisingly soft pat on the shoulder. 

"Well Fitz I'll see you in class …" She said before turning around.

"Uh yeah … see you in class and hum … thanks again for hu everything …" He replied a little bashfully and he chastised himself internally. Why was he acting so awkwardly with her now that his mum was here? He sounded like he didn't know what to say, like he was intimidated or something when they always knew what to say to each other before. Granted, it was full of bickering and bantering and exasperated sighs but either of them had ever sounded shy when talking to each other except maybe for those five first minutes the first time they had to work together. But they soon got over this shyness when they realized how easily they could get on each other's nerves. 

He supposed he was glad to see her leave now before she got to see more embarrassing gestures from his mum but still it had been nice to get a glimpse of what it could be like with her when they weren't constantly arguing over everything. She was really smart obviously but he'd also got to see how funny and witty she could be, even mischievous when given the opportunity. And it was almost sad to think that things would just go back to the way they were when he'd come back to class, hopefully sooner rather than later. When he thought about it, their relationship, if it could be called that, was the only real honest one he had since he came to the US. Most people didn't talk to him and when they did, it was always out of obligation, politeness or worse when they needed something from him. Jem-Simmons always spoke her mind without restriction and he's had some of the most fascinating -although nerve wracking- conversations he's ever had with her.

"Oh and Aileen?" Jemma called from where she was almost through the door. 

"Yes love?" 

"Thanks for showing me those baby pictures, they were absolutely delightful!" She said with a pointed look and a smirk towards Fitz. 

"Ah ah hilarious Simmons! Really funny."

"Okay then goodbye Fitz!"

"Wait Simmons you're joking right?"

"Byyyye" She called out from outside the door and then he heard her walk away.

"Mum she's joking right?" 

He turned around desperately towards his mother. 

"Of course love!" 

He knew that tone and he knew that smile and he didn't like it one bit.

Here it was: catastrophe. Just like he predicted.

"So ..." Aileen let out with another smile he liked even less than the other, like when she thought she'd outsmarted him for once. "When you said you hated her, you didn't mean like that Dudley boy who bullied you when you were ten …"

"Mum that was Dustin, Dudley's in Harry Potter, remember? But I don't know where you're going with that …"

"Oh yeah of course … What I mean to say is that you don't hate Jemma like you hated Dustin right? You hate her" She said, air quoting the word hate for emphasis. "like you hated Jenny, the pretty neighbor's girl back when you were thirteen, don't you?" She finished with a Cheshire cat grin. 

"Ugh mum!" 

And here it was: more catastrophe.

And okay maybe she'd been right about Jenny and she had been the first girl he kissed and made out with two years later when he was fifteen, but that didn't mean she was right about Jemma - Simmons god damn it- it didn't mean she was right about Simmons. He was almost an adult now, if he liked a girl, he could find other, more mature ways of letting her know.

"I'm happy for you sweetheart, it's good to know that you finally have someone to take care of you ..."

"Mum I don't … she's not .... we're not even friends, we're ... oh never mind, can I get more anesthetics please?"


	3. Chapter 3

The next week was spent in the hospital with people coming into his room every five minutes even during the night. Nurses came to poke him with needles so often that he wondered how he still even had enough blood for them to drain and what they could possibly need to test him for. Doctors came almost as often to see that his scars were healing properly or make sure that he really didn't sustain any serious head injury or after effects from his bad reaction to the anesthetics. But still, it left him wondering if it was that or his mom's presence that was the most painful and annoying. 

He loved his mother more than anything, there was no doubt about that, and deep down he was infinitely grateful for the way she raised him practically on her own. But this week also reminded him why it hadn't been this hard to accept the Academy's proposition for a scholarship even though it meant coming to live in the US and not see his mother for months on end. For a week, she spent almost every waking minute with him, only going back to her hotel to shower and sleep and coming back as soon as visiting hours started. And even though she denied it, he suspected that she was trying to punish him for not calling by acting embarrassingly tactile with him and telling all the supposedly cute -but actually awfully embarrassing- stories about him to anyone who would listen to her. Including the very pretty young nurse he thought made a flirty comment about his eyes and which he wouldn't be able to look in the eyes now thanks to the comment her mom said about his eyes being dilated because of her and not because of a lack of light in the room when she came to check on him later. 

Well, at least he could store that story for when she'd start asking why he was forty and single and still hadn't given her grand children. 

At some point, he even kind of regretted that Simmons left and didn't come back even just once. Sure, she was annoying and she often made his blood boil but he had to admit that their conversations were more often than not quite stimulating and at least if they made him flush red sometimes, it was out of exasperation and not embarrassment. And that was infinitely better. But he supposed she'd already done enough by staying with him for hours everyday for four days and like she said, they weren't even friends anyway. Which, to his own surprise, made him feel a bit sad. Especially when he thought that, even though he'd try not to aggravate her voluntarily considering how nice she'd been, they would likely go back to their usual bickering when working together and ignoring each other the rest of the time.

So when his doctor came and told him he would be released the next morning and his mom decided on her own, probably by some sort of miracle, that it was time for her to go home and that he'd be alright on his own, Fitz really tried his best not to look too happy about it. He was sincerely a bit more relieved about being released from the hospital than by seeing his mother go -he knew he'd miss her at some point in the months to come- but he'd been dreading the possibility that she would insist on accompanying him to the Academy. It was hard enough making friends there because he was so much younger than everybody else, he didn't need his mom treating him like a baby in front of everyone on top of it. Not to mention that it being basically a spy Academy, she would probably not be welcome and he really didn't want to have to explain that to her.

When Saturday came, Aileen helped Fitz pack his bags and dress up in actual clothes, which made him feel human again, and put him in a cab en route to the Academy, but not before showering him with kisses and embarrassing motherly affection. As always, Fitz mumbled and groaned and acted like it was too much but he still held on to her a little longer when she gave him a final hug before closing the door and taking her own cab to the airport. 

Saturday afternoon and evening was spent rather quietly. He'd planned on catching up on the whole week of class he'd missed but found out that it'd be harder than he thought on his own. A few professors had been nice enough to send him a sum up and book references for the classes he missed as well as assignments by email but most of them didn't and weren't apparently willing to answer a student's email on a Saturday. By the end of the day, he had finished everything he could do and, surprisingly considering he'd just spent a week lying in a hospital bed doing next to nothing, he was tired enough to fall asleep watching the latest Doctor Who episode. 

When Sunday morning came, Fitz spent a long time debating with himself about what he should do. He'd done all the work he could with what the professors sent him and now he'd have to wait till Monday to catch up on the rest of it. He thought about spending the day catching up on a few shows or even start a new one, something he hadn't done since he started at the Academy. But somehow he knew he'd feel guilty doing only that at some point. Fortunately, going out to have a bit of physical activity was out of the question with the cast on his leg and the one on his hand. Not that it was what he would have ended up doing even without his injuries, but at least for once he didn't have to feel guilty about it. 

So after, letting out a big sigh, he took one of the several big boxes filled with shortbread his mom had given him (how she found the time to bake so many before taking the plane to come see him, he'd never know, he'd already even considered the possibility that she was making them appear magically) and made his way towards Simmons' room two floors up. He went there once to bring her back the one pen he borrowed from her when she just wouldn't stop texting him about it and insisting he didn't forget to bring it back the next day. It wasn't even a nice pen and he'd wondered if she really was that neurotic or if she did it only to piss him off. The thought almost made him turn back as it reminded him how much she usually aggravated, but he couldn't help thinking back on the kind of nice moment they had back at the hospital, not to mention how incredibly selfless it had been of her to stay with him for so long. It had taken him a whole day to shake off the effects of the anesthetics and he couldn't really remember if he properly thanked her. They'd probably never be friends but at least, if he acted like a decent person and went to do just that, maybe it would make their interactions simpler and even make the whole process of working together actually agreeable. 

Once he reached her door, he took a big breath and was about to knock when the door opened and he almost crashed into her, having temporarily lost his balance. Her hands came up to his shoulders almost automatically to steady him but she quickly took them away and took a step back before either of them had the time to acknowledge how awkward it was that they basically fell in each other's arms for a second. 

"Oh Fitz … hi …" She said in a weird exaggeratedly cheery voice that exuded awkwardness. Which, he supposed, was an improvement since she usually only expressed annoyance, frustration or even slight anger whenever she saw him. 

"Hey I hu … the other day's still a bit blurry and I didn't remember if I properly thanked you for you know … coming to see me and … hu everything …" Fitz stammered and he realized that maybe he should have taken a moment to decide what he wanted to say to her. Which probably explained why it was so hard for him to make friends. Pointing out people's mistakes or mocking the way people did things came easily to him. But saying something nice, that was another story … Not that he didn't think nice things but he was just supposed to thank her for spending so much time making sure he wouldn't wake up alone, he wasn't going to tell her he noticed how pretty her hair was in the morning sunshine or how flattering her dress was on her slight form. These would have sounded flirty when they were really just simple observations. But on the other hand, it made him feel even weirder and more vulnerable to try and express his feelings to her: how he was grateful for her being there when he woke up and making him feel not so lonely for the first time since he arrived at the Academy. 

Fortunately, she seemed to pick up on what he was trying to say and was nice enough to cut off his ramblings. 

"It's alright Fitz, I'm sure you would have done the same for me …" She started before scrunching up her nose as she considered what she just said. "I mean I'm not sure of that" She corrected herself. "I don't know you all that well and I find you exasperating most of the time but you haven't given me a reason to think you're not a decent person so I think, given those special circumstances, you would probably have done the same so really …"

"You mean if I felt guilty for wishing you were in a terrible accident and you actually were?" He cut her off with a teasing grin. Seeing how she fidgeted with the stack of books and binders she was holding and moving restlessly from one foot to the other somehow made him feel better because she was obviously as uncomfortable as he was, trying to say nice things. She rolled her eyes at him but before she could reply anything he added: "But yeah … I would have done the same I guess but still … thank you for doing it. It truly was nice not waking up on my own …" He finished, his voice getting lower and smaller at the end, like it would make him less vulnerable if he didn't say it too loud. 

She just smiled at him. A small smile but soft and genuine and, at least that was how it felt, a little bit knowing. 

"Anyway …" He said after a moment of silence that seemed to last just a little bit too long. It was obviously still new for them to be nice to each other and he decided he should stop now before things got out of hands and they reverted back to their usual fighting and arguing. "You look like you were on your way out so I'm not going to bother you any longer …"

"Oh no actually I was coming to see you." She cut him off and he raised his eyebrows, which made her chuckle a little nervously. "I thought you'd like to start catching up on the classes you've missed, I would have come yesterday but I didn't know you were out of the hospital yet …"

"Oh that's … that's yeah … that'd be good but …" And now he was stuttering again. "You don't have to do that you know … I mean if you still feel guilty about that voicemail … I was kidding earlier and you already made up for it tenfold anyway and …"

"Ugh Fitz!" She cut him off with a annoyed huff that seemed much more familiar than the rest of their conversation until now. "I'm not donating you a kidney, I just made copies of my notes and the assignments you'll have to work on and picked up extra books at the library for you to work on it before they were all taken. It didn't take me more than five extra minutes each day so really no need to make such a fuss …" She said and it still gave him a surprisingly warm feeling in his chest. Because even if it didn't take her a lot of time, it meant that at least one person had thought about him and made a conscious effort to make life easier for him. "And also your mom asked me to help once she'd be gone!" She added. 

Oh. Of course that made much more sense. That shouldn't surprise him but it still stung for some reason. 

"Oh … well that's nice of you and this will help a lot but hum …" He started, trying his best to convey gratefulness and not the surprising disappointment he felt at the idea that it wasn't her decision to be so thoughtful. "You don't need to worry about it anymore, mom's gone back to Glasgow, she cannot ask anything else of you now …" He finished and once again, she rolled her eyes. 

"Fitz! It's not like she forced me to do it. She's a sweet woman who, for some reason, loves you very much and she was worried for her bullheaded son who thinks he doesn't need anyone when he's in the hospital with half his limbs pretty much useless …" She said with a pointed look and once more it felt like her mother was speaking directly through her and he bowed his head down in guilt. "So I thought that was the least I could do!" She finished with a look that made him feel really small despite the slightly amused smile tucking at her lips and the fact that he did have a good ten centimeters on her now thanks to his very recent growth spurt. 

"Oh … okay then … thank you …" He said. Then, as he was racking his brains to try and find something to make this feel less awkward, he remembered the box he was holding in his arm and just pulled it up, opening the lid to show it to her. "Oh speaking about my mom, she asked me to give this to you so hum … here" He said, waiting for her to take it. 

"Awwww, you are a nice obedient little boy after all!" She teased, balancing her books on one hip to free one of her hands and going to pick up one of the shortbreads from the box. But before she could, he closed it back with a loud groan.

"On the other hand, if you'd rather make fun of me instead of accepting this token of gratitude, I can just pack these up and …" He started but she cut him off with a small watery laugh that was quite different from how she usually reacted to his grumpy attitude and that he found annoyingly pretty. 

"Hey hey hey … just kidding … don't be so hasty just … give me the shortbread please …" She said, slowing down her voice like he was handling explosives. And from the sparkle in her eyes at the sight of the biscuits, she wasn't as completely immune to the powerful attraction of sugar and fat as she let on and it made him chuckle despite himself.

"Fine, you can have it … I'm almost a hundred percents positive I didn't poison that specific batch …" He grumbled and she gently rolled her eyes before taking the box from him. They fumbled for a moment to try and exchange her stack of books and binders for the box and when they finally managed to do it, Fitz realized that with a painful broken wrist and a cast down to his knuckles which basically made this hand useless, it wasn't as easy to hold on to the heavy books as it was to hold a simple box of biscuits. 

Noticing the slight discomfort written on his face, she tilted her head to the side until she realized what was bothering him. 

"Hum do you maybe need help bringing this back to your room?" She asked quite gently. 

"Oh no don't worry … it's not a long way to walk I'll be …"

"Fitz!" She cut him off with a pointed look. 

"Yeah all right …" He conceded. 

"Okay let me just …" She trailed off, turning around to put the box on her desk. That gave him the opportunity to give her room a quick look. He was so exasperated the last time that he didn't even notice it, but this was probably the nicest a room in a student dormitory had ever looked. Most students had a few posters up on the wall to make it feel less depressing and at best they managed to make the place clean and tidy. But Jemma Simmons' room was another thing entirely. Somehow it looked like it was out of an interior design magazine. She'd hanged tastefully framed art on the walls, there were several plants and flowers all around the room that made it smell really nice and she put several colorful but assorted cushions and throws all around the room to make it feel warmer. The only thing lacking was maybe a cat curled up on the small armchair she managed to sneak into the small space between her bed and her desk but he had to admit it still looked a lot more inviting than his own messy cave of a room. 

"Fitz?" She asked with a slightly confused but amused smile and he realized he must have been staring into her room for longer than he thought. 

"Sorry … sorry … it's just … it's a really nice room, very … grown up …" He finished lamely but that made her chuckle. 

"Hum Thanks … I guess …" She replied before moving to take the books from him. 

"Oh no I can still carry some of those …"

"Fitz don't be ridiculous!" She cut him off. "it's not all that heavy and you need to go easy on your wrist or it'll just take longer to heal." She finished and gave a pleased little smile once he gave up and let her take back the whole stack. 

"All right …" He said, waiting for her to close the door before starting to walk towards the stairs. "Whatever you say …doctor!" 

"That's the spirit …" She grinned. 

-0-0-0-

Jemma Simmons had a pretty well established schedule from the moment she woke up to the moment she went to bed every night with the exception of Saturdays and Sundays where she allowed herself a little improvisation. She usually woke up at least two hours before the start of class so she could have the time for either a bit of light reading, studying if she had a test or going for a run at least a few times a week. She knew she wanted to apply for field work when she graduates from the Academy and for that she'd have to be fit at least. After that, she liked to take a long shower, take her time to get dressed and ready for the day and still have time to catch a breakfast from the cafeteria before entering the classroom a comfortable ten to fifteen minute before the start of class. 

What her schedule didn't usually involve was stopping by a certain Scottish grumpy engineer's room before going down the cafeteria for breakfast. Things had been surprisingly nice and civil between them the previous day. Quite awkward on several occasions but still, almost friendly. Fitz's mom had only expressed how she was relieved that he had found someone who could look out for him and she looked so worried about her son's injuries that Jemma didn't have the heart to tell her that there was nothing she wanted less than look out for this insufferable grump on a daily basis and that her act of kindness towards him could only be attributed to a moment of weakness and quite a big amount of guilt. And so Jemma had heard herself tell that sweet woman that she'd look out for him and make sure his injuries heal properly. And she supposed it was vague enough for her to simply have to enquire about it when she sees him in class every day and give him a few advices to make sure he did nothing to delay his recovery. But the doctor in her noticed how he was still trying to use his broken wrist and how he was balancing too much weight on his broken leg. That would definitely slow down the recovery and possibly leave lasting damages and stubborn as he was, she knew he would stop following her advices the moment she was out of sight and she couldn't let that happen. Never let it be said that Jemma Simmons wasn't true to her word. Also, his mom had insisted that he wouldn't have had this accident if he ate and slept properly and even though a lack of sleep could theoretically slow down one's reactions, his eating habits really didn't have anything to do with it. But Jemma had been all too quick to agree because that would give her a reason to pester him about eating sweets in class. That wasn't healthy anyway and it would probably annoy the hell out of him. She was doing all of this mostly out of pure generosity, there was no reason she couldn't at least get a little fun out of it. 

And as much as she tried to forget about it, she couldn't help coming back to this image of him, worryingly pale, lying on that hospital bed, completely still, bruised and with his damaged arm and leg. And god knows she didn't like him but seeing him like this had made her heart clench. Maybe because it reminded her that, as annoying as he was, he was just like her, a teenager living in a foreign country, not even old enough to drink or vote but still depressingly alone in this hospital bed. And then yesterday, he had looked so pathetic, limping about, using his crutch with only one good arm to use that she decided she would take care of him from now on wether he wanted it or not.

Well, at least until the casts were off, she was a doctor not a saint. 

So looking down at her watch and smiling pleasingly when she realized she still had a comfortable forty-five minutes before the start of class, she grabbed her backpack, her keys and her jacket, walked out of her room and made her way two floors down to Fitz's room. 

Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door. For a moment, there wasn't a single noise coming from the room and she wondered if he already was on his way to class, which didn't sound like him at all, so she knocked a second time, more vigorously. 

Another moment of silence and then finally a voice. 

"Who is it?" She heard him shout through the door. 

"Jemma …" She started before correcting herself. "Simmons … Jemma Simmons" 

He'd called her Jemma a few times at the hospital but he didn't do it since then so she supposed it was just the drugs making his brain a little fuzzy. Which disappointed her a bit. Everyone called each other by their family name here, which made sense because they'd have to get used to call each other Agent anyway, but it was terribly cold and impersonal and she missed having someone calling her Jemma. And again it must have been the drugs taking his usual barriers down but he'd made it sound warm and friendly. But then, he'd also looked on the verge of tears a few times so really, definitely not his normal state.

"What are you doing here so early?" He asked, still through the doors and she huffed in annoyance. 

"Coming to see if you need help with anything!" She replied, trying her best to still sound friendly and like she was pleased to do it. He was prickly enough for the both of them.

"Oh …" He just let out. "Just a minute …" 

She heard movement in the room, things being moved around, then a few typically Scottish curses that made her smile despite herself and finally, the door opened, revealing an obviously still very sleepy Fitz. Thanks to the hospital benefiting directly from the technology developed in SHIELD, Fitz had one of those relatively thin microfiber casts on his leg which meant he could wear his usual trousers as long as they weren't too snug but as for the rest, he was still only wearing socks and a simple undershirt. His hair was a mess, he obviously hadn't had the time to shave properly and with his blue eyes shining in the morning light, she had to admit, despite herself, that he looked rather adorable. Which prompted an involuntary smile from her, which he obviously interpreted as teasing. Looking down at him and then back at her, he rolled his eyes. 

"We cannot all look so fresh in the morning Simmons, that's not human!" He grumbled in a lower than usual voice and she smiled even wider, deciding to take it as a disguised compliment. 

"Oh by the way, you shouldn't sleep with your door unlocked, that's really not safe and …"

"Too early Simmons! I don't usually say so many words before eight AM so just … you know …" He said, almost pleadingly so she decided to let it slide. Or most likely to store that for later when he'd be fully awake.

"Alright so … do you need help with something? Carrying your books or I don't know, finish getting dressed …"

"NO!" He cried out, reflexively folding his arms across his chest with an affronted look. His mother was right, he really was too prudish. 

"Ugh Fitz I didn't say UNdress you, trust me that really is the last thing I want to do. I only suggested you might need help getting dressed! Have you ever tried buttoning a shirt with only one hand?" 

"Uh no. No no no I'm fine but hu ... thanks …" He replied a little sheepishly, obviously realizing he had overreacted. "But hum … now that you're here and we're heading to the same classroom anyway, I wouldn't mind a little bit of help to carry some of my stuff … you know like books and such … if you don't mind."

"Sure … I'll just wait here while you finish getting dressed." She answered before sitting on his desk chair. Which was the only place that wasn't loaded with clothes or stacks of books or drawings. Although, to his credit, the place looked significantly better than the previous day. At least the floor was mostly free of the clutter that had been there and the place actually smelt nice. It wasn't warm by any stretch with its only poster of space hung on the wall but at least, it felt less like walking into a cave. Still, she understood why he'd looked at her own room that way the previous day. Compared to his, it must have looked like something out of an interior design magazine. 

For the first few minutes, from the corner of her eye, she watched him try to tie his laces with one hand and the tip of the fingers of his bad hand and even though the result wasn't very convincing, she had to admire his perseverance. After that, he managed to put his shirt on without too much trouble but things got tricky when he tried buttoning it. But she had to admit that he had quite deftly fingers because he still managed to do several of them with only one hand. At some point, she became so fascinated by it that she didn't even try to hide that she was looking at him directly. 

A smile started to tuck at her lips though, when it became evident that he wouldn't be able to do them all, especially when he got closer to his neck and couldn't really see it. Her smile got even bigger when she noticed he missed one button at the beginning and that he would have to do it all over again. She supposed she could tell him now and save him some time but he really was quite stubborn about it and she was frankly curious to see how long he would insist before asking for her help. 

"Well …" He let out a few minutes later. "I'm ready now, we can go!" He declared with his arms crossed over his chest as best as he could and a defiant look in his eyes that seemed to mean "that's exactly the look I was aiming for". She tried her best to give him her most innocent smile as she gave him a slow once over from head to toe. His shoe laces were already starting to get untied, his shirt was still half open with several missed buttons, not to mention his hair: she didn't think it was humanly possible for such short hair to get so messy. She was tempted not to say anything and actually start walking to class with him, just to see how more stubborn he could get but seeing him like this, she realized that he did not only look like he got dressed in the dark but also that he might look properly debauched. She blushed as her over imaginative brain couldn't help but procure very clear images of how she could have helped getting him in such a state. She blamed her stupid hormone addled adolescent brain for that. However smart she was, sometimes there was just no escaping biology. So she really didn't want people to see them both get out of his room so early in the morning with him looking like this. It was hard enough getting accustomed to life at the Academy and all that was new in her life, she didn't need rumors started about them. 

So after a long minute of looking into each other's eyes, she finally said: 

"I think you missed a button there." 

He remained serious and pretended to look down like he didn't know what he looked like but when he looked back up and their eyes crossed and she was raising her eyebrows, biting her lip to stop herself from smiling too wide, the beginning of a smile appeared on his lips as well and that was enough to break her restraint and he followed her when she finally burst out laughing. As laughter made her shoulders shake, she remembered that the last time she'd laughed like that in a long time was with him at the hospital a week ago. Apparently, he had the capacity to drive her out her mind with anger but it seemed that he was also the only here capable of provoking such a delightfully freeing reaction from her. Did this mean that they could actually come to appreciate each other at some point? It was all so confusing. 

When the laughter finally calmed down, Jemma pressed her fingers into the corner of her eyes to wipe the few tears that had escaped and looked back up at him with an expectant and teasing smile. He was still slightly hunched over his desk and looked even more disheveled than before. 

"So hum Jem … Simmons … could you help me … fix all this?" He asked with a shy little smile as he used a finger to point at basically all of him and she smiled mischievously.

"Well … I can help with the clothes, there's not much I can do with the rest of you!" Se let out before realizing that what she meant as innocent teasing might have sounded really mean. She actually didn't think there was something wrong his him. Well, he had quite an infuriating personality but physically speaking, he was quite alright she supposed. He was rather pleasantly symmetrical with, she had to admit, strikingly blue eyes and a skinny body he would likely grow out of, being only sixteen and having mandatory physical tests to pass to graduate from SHIELD.

Fortunately, he seemed to take her teasing for just what it was. 

"Just the clothes please, for the rest … well there's no fixing perfection!" He grinned and she huffed and rolled her eyes but there was no real bite to it. If anything, she found that she quite liked this friendly teasing. It was a refreshing feeling. She would have thought that being vulnerable would make him even more defensive but it actually made him softer and a little less prickly.

"Let's fix those first!" She said, getting on her knees in front of him and gesturing towards the laces of his sneakers. "You don't wanna trip and fall on top of everything else ..."

"Yeah ..." He chuckled before nervously clearing his throat and adding: "If we both acknowledge that this is really awkward, does that make it a little less awkward?" 

Looking up, she realized what part of his anatomy her eyes were facing when she sat back on her heels and chuckled in amusement although she could feel there was a little pink tinting her cheeks. 

"Maybe a little ...but let's agree to never do that in public …" She grinned before checking one last time that the laces were tied tightly and stood up, brushing invisible dust from her knees. 

"So if my shoe laces get untied in the middle of the day …"

"Yeah you're on your own!" She finished for him and he gasped in fake shock like he did so often. It usually annoyed her because he used it to make fun of her but this time, it felt different and more like friendly banter than anything so she just snorted and carried on with unbuttoning his shirt completely to re-button it up properly. It wasn't exactly awkward like kneeling in front of him had been but it felt weirdly … intimate. They'd rarely had to stand so close and certainly not alone in his room while facing each other. Not to mention that undressing or dressing a person wasn't something you did for just anyone. They barely knew a few things about each other besides what was obvious to the naked eye and they could definitely not be considered friends. They were just barely starting to tolerate each other's presence so why did she find this to be kind of not completely disagreeable? Maybe because he had that fresh out of the shower smell she always liked or because that plaid shirt really was soft or maybe, maybe because the few times she looked up, he had a surprisingly soft look in these, again, annoyingly pretty blue eyes of his. She realized she must have been missing real friendly interactions a lot if this was enough to give her some kind of warm feeling in her chest. Of course, she'd met a lot of people since she came to the Academy and there were a few of them with whom she spent a bit of time between classes but no one she'd felt any kind of connection with or felt like she could become really friends with. And actually the only person which stood out from all of this was Fitz. She could barely stay in his presence for five minutes without rolling her eyes all the way to the back of her head but if someone asked her now for the name of one person she was sure to remember ten years from now, the only one who'd come out would be Fitz's. 

Fortunately, she was pulled out of that weird trail of thought by Fitz's voice. 

"You know, if we were back in the nineties, I could have velcro sneakers and we wouldn't have this problem! What a sad unimaginative era we live in!" 

"Well you're an engineer … make them yourselves …" Jemma grinned and he rolled his eyes. 

"Yeah 'cause we all have so much time to work on personal projects like that … hey I think you missed the top button." He cut himself off. 

"No it's better that way, trust me …" She replied without really thinking about it. It's only when he looked at her with wide eyes and a raised eyebrow that she realized that maybe she shouldn't have an opinion on what looked best for him. "What? It's just one button Fitz and you're wearing an undershirt, don't be so prudish!"

"What? No that's not why I was …"

Of course she knew that wasn't what had surprised him but she really didn't want to have to explain to him that it made the elegant line of his neck stand out better that way.

"Never mind … what about my tie?"

"Yeah, lose that too …"

"Oh great! Now I'm gonna look even younger!" He scoffed. "Do you know how hard it is when you barely look old enough to be in high school and …" He started but she huffed at him. 

"Of course I know, we're the same age Fitz! And the tie doesn't make you look older, it makes you look like a kid playing dress up …"

"What? No! My mum said it …" He started but she let out a small laugh that shut him up and made him glare at her in a a very familiar way. 

"Not helping your case by mentioning your mum Fitz …" She grinned and he let out a loud sigh. 

"Fine Simmons you win … It's not like I'll be able to do it myself anyway …"

"Good choice Fitz!" She said, lightly patting his chest with a pleased little smile. "That thing is a hazard anyway … someone might be tempted to strangle you with it …" 

"Yeah I guess you would know …" He replied and despite the meaning behind their words, they shared an amused smile … that lasted until Jemma tried to put one hand in his hair and he shrieked as he stepped back almost automatically. 

"Hey what are you doing?" He cried out and she glared at him, feeling somehow a little hurt that he'd recoil at her touch. 

"Putting some order in that bird's nest you call your hair?"

"No that's that's … alright. Took me years to find out how to properly tame them … you're gonna make things worse!"

"Rude!" She let out with a huff. "But come on, you look like a mad scientist, you cannot go out like that!" She said, gesturing towards the small mirror on his wall. If she was being completely honest, she still found it a bit cute but it made him look even more juvenile and she supposed that really wasn't what he would aim for. 

"Alright …" He said a little sheepishly and she took a step forward to stand in front of him once more. For the first time, she was realizing how he was actually noticeably taller than she was when she'd been almost positive they were the same height when they first met. Maybe, he just went through a growth spurt, which made her a little jealous because it was clearly over for her and she wouldn't have minded a few extra centimeters. Anyway, she had to go up on her tiptoes to see what she was doing properly and carefully threaded her fingers through his hair. 

"Mmmh soft …" She let out, her voice barely more than a whisper and more to herself than to him. She didn't expect the soft springy quality of it. Still, when she looked back at his face, she could see the pink tinting his cheeks and couldn't help smiling. 

After a minute of finger combing his hair and trying her best to tame it, she moved back and looked at him with a pleased smile. 

"There, all done!" 

Turning around, he looked at the mirror and gasped before turning back to her, trying to affect a casual air. 

"'s not bad" He said, running his one usable hand through his hair and Jemma fought her instinct to swat it so he wouldn't mess what she'd just done. "And you didn't even use gel or …"

"You should't use gel, the alcohol in it will make the roots greasy and the tips dry." She cut him off and he grinned. 

"Yeah would be too bad since it's so all so soft …" He said, waggling his eyebrows exaggeratedly. 

"Ugh Fitz, it wasn't a compliment, just an observation!" She huffed, stepping away from him to grab her bag and maybe hide the slight smile his ridiculous expression had provoked. 

"Oh no it was a compliment alright Simmons! You can't take it back now!" 

"Mmmh maybe you should wear the tie after all …" She suggested with a too sweet smile and he huffed before grabbing his crutch and clumsily put his bag on his shoulder and across his chest. 

"Fine, shall we go then?" 

She nodded, opened the door for him and closed it behind her. 

"So did you have breakfast already?" She asked as she waited for him to close the door. 

"Do I look like I already had breakfast?" 

"Yeah guess not … well I'm going to grab something from the cafeteria, do you wanna come along?"

"Did my mom also ask you to feed me?" He asked with a suspicious look. 

God, Jemma thought. Was he just completely paranoid or did something happen in his life to make him believe that people couldn't just be friendly and always had an ulterior motive?

"No! I just thought that since we're heading to the same class after anyway and that you might want to eat something, we might as well walk there together. Also, if you have a proper breakfast, maybe I won't have to suffer through seeing you eating sweets and all types of junk food all day!" 

"So you're asking me out to breakfast then?" 

"What no! How could you even …" She started until she turned around and saw his pleased little grin. "Ah ah Fitz that's hilarious really. God, one week without seeing you and I almost forgot how annoying you are!"

"Aww you missed me Simmons!" He insisted. 

"Ugh Fitz!"

The moment his wrist cast was off and he wouldn't need her help that much couldn't come fast enough.


	4. Chapter 4

When there was a knock on his door at 7:15 three weeks later, Fitz wasn't surprised by the big smile that immediately tucked at his lips. In the last three weeks, he'd gotten used to Simmons coming to knock on his door exactly 50 minutes before class every week day to help him get dressed. Then they would go get breakfast and walk to class together since there only was a few classes they didn't share and none of those first thing in the morning. At first he was quite grumpy about it because it meant he had to be at least showered and partially clothed an insanely long amount of time before class, but since he couldn't ask anyone else for help, he didn't really have a choice. But then, he started noticing that he slept better at night and that he no longer felt sleepy or hungry for junk food by mid-morning. And he had to admit it was probably due to Simmons' forcing him to wake up early and have a boring but healthy breakfast at the cafeteria. And by the time they hit the third week, the (sleepy) smile he gave her when he opened the door for her every morning had become sincere. 

And that morning, she was five minutes late so when he went to open the door, he was prepared to tease her for missing her alarm but she spoke before he had the time to say anything. 

"Happy taking your cast off day!" She cried out in a way that was way too cheerful so early in the morning (he didn't even remember anyone wishing him happy birthday in such a cheerful way) but one of the few things he'd noticed since they started this little morning ritual and were no longer arguing and getting on each other's nerves all the time, was that her genuine smiles were incredibly contagious. 

"Thanks Simmons!" He grinned before letting her in. 

"Here" She said, handing him a cardboard cup and a small paper bag, which he took with a raised eyebrow. "Sorry I'm late, I didn't think there would be such a line at the cafeteria this time of day!" She added and he couldn't help chuckling once more. He didn't even consider someone to be late until at least ten minutes after the agreed upon time and they never even agreed upon a specific time for her to come in the first place but somehow, her still apologizing about it didn't even surprise him anymore.

"That's alright. So what's … OH MY GOD SUGAR!" He cut himself off when he saw she'd actually bought him a donut for breakfast. In the past three weeks, he's had to start sneaking in to the cafeteria between classes they didn't share to get his sugar fix and now she was getting him a donut for breakfast. "Simmons are you sick?" He insisted and she rolled her eyes in amusement. 

"Well you'll finally be able to get dressed on your own, I thought this called for a celebration!" She answered brightly. 

"Yeah I guess …" He chuckled. 

But as she came closer to start buttoning his shirt up while he used his good hand to tame his still wet curls just like she'd taught him in what seemed like a well rehearsed choreography, his mind started to wander. At first it felt like having Simmons on his back all the time was going to suffocate him. He was used to being alone all the time and even though he'd always craved more human interaction in his life, it suddenly felt like a lot in very little time. Between their morning ritual and the projects they were working on and her helping him carry his stuff between classes, his only moments of free time were during the week-ends and that was only when they didn't have to work on an assignment together, which happened less and less often with time because obviously, all the professors had taken the fact that Simmons was helping him for a sign that they should make them spend even more time together. But as weeks passed and as they both started to make a conscious effort not to get on each other's nerves, they realized what they had refused to acknowledge before: they worked even better together than on their own. And with the prospect of even more fascinating science experiments and interesting conversations in the mix, he'd started to realize that it wasn't completely awful spending time with her, even when it wasn't work related. 

But if she wanted to celebrate not having to help him get dressed and walk him to class every day, did that mean she'd be glad to be rid of him? He supposed he could understand that. It didn't go unnoticed that she was much less socially awkward than he was and smiled easily when he was always such a grump. It made sense that she'd probably want to spend the time she'd been using to help him these past weeks, to socialize a bit more with the other students. Still, it kind of stung because it felt like they had good moments and at times, he almost forgot she did all of that because his mum asked her to. 

"Fitz? Fitz are you even listening to me?" She asked, her voice louder than usual and her tone slightly exasperated and he realized he must have been too lost in his thoughts to hear her. 

"Yeah yeah hu … no sorry …" He said sheepishly. "Lost in thoughts … what did you say?" He asked and she rolled her eyes but he noticed that now, more often than not, it came with an almost fond shake of her head. 

"I was asking if you wanted to go outside on the quad to eat that. We still have time before the start of class, the weather's nice and it's been ages since I've seen a sunrise from somewhere other than a classroom window." She said with a soft smile and he couldn't help looking at her with wide eyes. 

That sounded really nice actually but really quite … romantic …

"Fitz?" She insisted with a worried expression when he didn't answer immediately. 

"Yeah hu … yeah yeah good idea." He finally answered, smiling. "Let me just grab a jacket and we can go."

"Alright!" She replied with a pleased and somehow relieved smile he decided not to analyze any further.

-0-0-0-

"So …" She started, once they were settled on one of the small benches in front of the swimming pool building. He'd been there a few times since the start of year. Swimming wasn't exactly his forte but he still liked it better than all the other sports he could practice here and since sports was mandatory, he'd had to chose something. But anyway, the one thing he'd noticed about the place was that it gave them the high ground and a completely open horizon towards the east, which seemed like the perfect conditions to watch the sunrise. "I've looked up the file your doctor gave you concerning rehab for your arm and your leg …" 

"What file?" He cut her off. His injuries weren't that bad, at least not the one on his arm and he didn't think he needed rehab. 

"The one you probably threw away the moment you were out of the hospital and which I fortunately kept when the doctors gave it to me while you were sleeping!" She replied and he rolled his eyes. She kept referring to the four days it took for him to wake up after his surgery as "sleeping" like he'd just been too lazy to wake up. But for once, curiosity got the best of him so he let it slide.

"So what about those files?" He asked. 

"Well I've read them and as soon as the cast is off, you're going to need to do daily exercises to strengthen the muscles and tendons that you didn't use while the cast was on, to avoid hurting yourself again. And also you should be careful in using your hand for at least a week or you might sprain your wrist. So I was thinking since you'll be able to get dressed on your own …" She stopped to grin at him for a moment before carrying on. "… we could use this time in the morning to do your exercise and I'll probably have time for fifteen more minutes most eve … what?" 

She must finally have noticed the way he was looking at her. He didn't know how that must have looked like to her but he knew it was a mix of surprise and disbelief. Surely she couldn't feel like she owed that much to his mother, she'd really done more than enough already. Unless it was all still out of guilt for saying those words and in this case, she really was a better person than he was if just a few simple words said when she was angry made her think it warranted her taking care of him that way!

"It's just you don't have to … why do you … what-why would you do that?"

She smiled as she patiently waited for him to get an intelligible sentence out and then she chuckled a little nervously.

"Well because I'm pretty sure you'll never do the exercises if I'm not here to watch you and then you'll get yourself injured again and I'll feel guilty about it and we'll be stuck in an infinite loop!" She explained and he couldn't help chuckling himself, even though he found it a little unsettling that she seemed to know him so well already. 

"Yeah you're … you're probably right but hum …" 

"Also, I need my lab partner to be in full possession of his abilities! I've always been top of class since I was four years old, I'm not going to let it change now!" She cut him off with an expression that was determined but somehow also a little uncertain.

She knew just as well as he did that they'd finished their latest lab assignment for professor Callahan two weeks ago and that he hadn't requested they keep working together. But if he was being honest, he'd started to like working with her and he hoped that maybe, despite her saying that he was just her best option, she might feel the same. It was also kind of nice having someone watch over him. The number of persons who'd ever had taken such an interest in him since he was a child could all easily fit in a small car, and there would still be room for him in it. So he decided not to call her out on the real reasons she was doing all these things for him and just decided to be grateful. 

"Alright then … that's really nice of you, more than nice even … thank you Jem-Simmons" He declared in a soft voice, only looking at her from the corner of his eyes. 

"Jemma's fine …"

"Hu?" He let out, turning around to look her fully in the eyes and she smiled but again, there a little nervousness in it.

"I've noticed you almost calling me Jemma several times recently and hu … you can … call me that. If you want. It's just … I miss hearing my given name sometimes." She trailed off, not fully looking at him like he did a minute ago. He supposed that was one more thing they had in common: feeling vulnerable when they wanted to express their feelings. 

"Okay … Jemma." He simply answered and her smile widened. "Just please don't ever call me Leo or Leopold, I really don't miss anyone calling me that!" 

She looked at him questioningly but just when he thought she was going to ask him why, she just shook her head and nodded and he couldn't have been more grateful about it. Turning back to look at the horizon where the sun was finally starting to rise, they stayed in silence for a moment. The light was slowly changing from a faint pink glow to a warm orange light and creating long shadows behind the tall trees forming some sort of natural barrier around the Academy campus and with the light reflecting in the wide artificial pool, he had to admit it was a pretty sight, one worth getting up ridiculously early to see it.

"It really is a nice spot to watch the sunrise Fitz …" She said, breaking the silence and mirroring his own thoughts. "I mean it's not like seeing it from the top of the green hills of Perthshire but … it's still pretty." 

"Perthshire?" He grinned. "That's in Scotland!"

"I know where it is Fitz!" She answered, rolling her eyes softly. "Been there on a family holiday once, it was so pretty and green and peaceful, I often think about it …" 

"An' ye dinna have trouble understanding the locals while ye were there?" He asked, exaggerating his accent to the point he barely could understand himself. 

"You know I know when you exaggerate your accent to annoy me right?" She replied with a raised eyebrow. "And I mean not just right now …"

"Yeah … and you know I know you only pretend not to understand me right?" He retorted, trying to raise his eyebrows even higher until they simultaneously grinned at each other and she shook her head in defeat.

"Okay I suppose we've both been a little childish …" She conceded before looking at her watch. "I think it's time to go if we want the good seats."

Standing up, she took both their empty cups to throw them away in the nearest bin and went back to offer her hand to help him up. He took it with a small smile and pushed himself up from the bench. As they started walking down the small hill and towards the main building, Fitz was tempted to tell her that since they were headed to their SHIELD history class, her idea of a good seat was probably quite different from his but it was so nice to have, for once, someone to sit next to rather than just sit as father away as possible from the most annoying students that he didn't say anything and just followed her lead. And as he listened, he tried his best to look bored and not let the fond smile tugging at his lips show as she went on about how fascinating she'd found their latest class about Peggy Carter. 

-0-0-0-

"Okay now squeeze for thirty more seconds and then you can stretch!" Jemma said, offering her hand once more for Fitz to take. 

"You know sometimes I think you're inventing these exercises just so you can leech away all my body heat through your icy fingers!" He let out with an amused grin as he pretended to recoil from her touch, like he did pretty much all the time. "I mean we've been inside for two hours, how can your hands still be so cold?" He insisted and she chuckled. 

"It's just biology Fitz, women's thermo receptors work faster than men's and send all the blood towards internal organs to keep a potential foetus warm and safe when it senses cold. And then it gets much longer for the extremities to get warm again. It's annoying really, it's like nature doesn't care if we're uncomfortable or miserable as long as a non-existing foetus is safe …" She trailed off, letting out a loud annoyed sigh and couldn't help grinning at Fitz's sheepish expression. 

"Hu … sorry …" He said with an actual apologetic look.

"That's alright, I'm pretty sure it's not your fault Fitz …" She grinned. "Now squeeze!" 

They'd been doing this for almost two weeks, twice a day every day and by now, she thought she would have gotten used to it but she hadn't, not completely. Knowing that it was just a biological thing didn't make it any less pleasing when he enveloped her usually cold hand with his always warm one. She was glad it was almost winter and she was always wearing long sleeves now or he might have seen how it never failed to send a trail of goosebump up her arm. But on top of the nice warm feeling, helping with those exercises had given her ample time to look at his hands and she wondered how, for someone as observant as she was, it took her so long to notice how really nice they were. They were actually quite possibly the nicest hands she'd ever seen on a man: palms large and wide enough to make them strong and able to envelop her own tiny ones entirely but with ridiculously long and elegant fingers that probably had to do with him being so naturally precise when tinkering with fine machinery. That would probably make him a good pianist as well. Maybe he was already. He never mentioned it but it wasn't like they had so many personal conversations, even since they started being more civil to each other. 

"Hu Jemma can I stop squeezing now?" 

"What? Oh yes of course … sorry … lost in thoughts …" She apologized, feeling herself blush. It wasn't the first time she let her mind wander when they were in that situation but she supposed she couldn't really be blamed. She might be the smartest person here, she was still sixteen and when a not completely unattractive boy touched her with his objectively nice hands, it was bound to make her feel … something. 

Fitz was smirking and she could see he was about to tease her some way or another but someone decided to beat him to it. 

"Hey FitzSimmons, what's this? Are you arm wrestling? You know this is not Operations right?" Milton said, looking mighty pleased with himself, voice loud enough for a few other cadets hanging out in the common room to laugh at his joke and Jemma rolled her eyes. 

"We're not armwrestling Milton, I'm just helping him getting some strength back into his arm and hand now that the cast is off!" 

"Oh I'm sure little Fitzy here could find ways to get some way to exercise his wrist on his own …" He replied. "Although it's always better with a pretty girl, right Fitzy?" He added, turning to Fitz with a sly grin. 

"I swear if you call me Fitzy one more …" Fitz started and Jemma noticed he was still holding on to her and squeezing even harder now, probably in annoyance and apparently a little bit of anger. She'd already noticed he could have quite the temper over the smallest things sometimes, even if she had to admit Milton usually was particularly annoying. 

"i'm confused Milton, are you trying to flirt with me or Fitz here? Because I'm pretty sure neither of us is interested anyway!" 

"WHAT? No! No no no … obviously I was …" He started, putting his hands in front of him in a defensive way. She knew that even vaguely mentioning homosexuality in the presence of such a ridiculous alpha male type was the best way to get rid of him but that didn't stop her from finding it profoundly stupid every time. 

"Did you need something else Milton? 'Cause we're kind of busy here!" She cut him off with what she hoped was a convincing glare. 

Apparently it was because, he mumbled something about someone needing him and left. Jemma turned to Fitz with an amused grin, feeling quite proud of herself but Fitz was looking at her with wide eyes and she wondered if maybe she said something wrong. Could Fitz actually be interested in Milton that way? No, he kept saying mean (but quite amusing) things about the size of his head and she thought she'd noticed several pointed looks when he thought she wasn't looking that made it pretty clear Fitz was interested in women so … 

"Mmmh Well he was suggesting that you … you know and I thought it was rude so I …" 

"No Jemma I know what he was suggesting, I'm young, not completely oblivious! No I mean why did he call us FitzSimmons?" 

"Oh …" Jemma let out, blushing slightly. "Yeah uh … people have started calling us that. I supposed we've been spending quite a lot of time together lately … Is it the first time you've heard it?" 

"Of course it is! Why would I be surprised if it wasn't?" He cried out and she couldn't quite decipher the expression on his face. He was surprised obviously but there was something else as well …

"Does that hum … does that bother you?" She asked shyly. She'd found it ridiculous at first but the more she heard it, the more she thought it kind of had a nice ring to it.

"I don't know" He shrugged. "Never really thought about it before you know but hum … I suppose I've been called worse." He said with a small chuckled and she relaxed a bit. "And hu … I guess there are worse people i could be associated with …" He added and a small smiled tucked at her lips. "… I mean not a lot but …" He added with a teasing grin but she cut her off by swatting his hand. She liked that they kept this teasing bantering part of their relationship but without the part that usually made her want to strangle him. 

"Okay now stretch." She said, doing the movements herself for him to follow her lead and she tried to focus on making sure he was doing them right and not on how graceful his hands were when he was stretching his fingers like that. 

"FitzSimmons …" He repeated after a while. "There's quite a nice ring to it I guess …"


	5. Chapter 5

"Oww! Be careful Fitz!" 

"I'm not TRYING to electrocute myself Jemma!" Fitz huffed, absent-mindedly rubbing the fingers of his bad hand (more as an habit than anything else since, thanks to his rehab, his injury really hadn't left any kind of lasting damage) before taking off his safety goggles and throwing them on his desk with anger. 

"Hey hey what's wrong with you today? gotten off on the wrong foot or something?" She teased, apparently trying to defuse the tension, but without much effect. 

"What's wrong is that my brain has apparently turned to mush and I'm bloody useless and stupid and maybe you should have found yourself a better lab partner!" He grumbled and stood up to walk away from her and her worried expression. Those last two months, Jemma had somehow wormed her way into his life and as nice as it was not to be alone all the time anymore, he still wasn't used to it and he still didn't understand why she stuck around now that both his casts were off and why she still hadn't given up on him, especially when he was in such a foul mood. 

"Hey! Come on …" She started with that soft careful tone people usually used with wild animals. "Let's take a break. We could both use some fresh air or something to eat. I'm sure we'll find a way to work this out when we come back, yeah?" 

"Ugh Simmons, this drone won't magically fix itself because we've had something to eat!" He cried out. 

"Of course no, that's not what I …" 

"Why are you still doing this Jemma?" He cut her off and her brows creased in confusion. "Why are you still working with me? Helping me with stuff? I'm completely healed now and I don't need help with anything anymore and it's not like you owed anything to my mom anyway …" 

"Fitz …" She let out with a small voice. The hurt that flashed behind her eyes told him he'd done something wrong but he was hard to stop when he was in such a self deprecative sour mood. "Of course I'm not doing this for your mom, haven't had for a long time …" 

"Well if you still feel guilty about those messages, there's no need, you've done more than enough to make up for it." 

"Ugh Fitz of course no, I know that!" She cried out, her surprise now seeming to turn to exasperation and anger and it only frustrated him even more. Why would she bother doing all of this after all this time when he was always such a grump? He didn't remember her spending any significant amount of time with anyone else in the past couple of months. It was almost like she was dedicated to him and it confused him immensely. If it wasn't for his mom or out of guilt then … 

"Then why Jemma?" He cried out even louder and she glared at him so fiercely that he suddenly felt like a child throwing a tantrum. And that was probably exactly how he looked like to her at the moment.

"Ugh honestly Fitz, sometimes I think you're not nearly as smart as I thought you were!" She admonished him. "Did it occur to you that maybe, despite the fact that you can be annoying and insufferable and impossibly grumpy, I think that you're also smarter than everyone else here and that we work really well together. And also, maybe I find that you're actually pretty fun to be around and sometimes even really nice and maybe, maybe, we're simply starting to become friends?" 

She'd taken a few steps towards him as she talked and she was now standing in front of him with her hands on her hips with an expression on her face that was at the same time fierce and vulnerable. A warm, strange and unfamiliar feeling was spreading through his chest from his heart and he thought that maybe that was what it felt like to have someone really care for you. Someone who had no obligation to do so but still chose to do it. That seemed to be a good way to describe what a real friend was but how was he supposed to recognize it? Fitz never had a friend before. Sure, he's had buddies and classmates he spent time with between classes but never someone who cared enough to come to his door and check on him on the days he was missing classes or to ask for a way to remain in contact when Fitz left Glasgow for good a few months ago.

"Oh …" Was all he could say at first and maybe she was his friend after all because as lame as it was, she gave him a soft fond smile. "Is that … is that really all it is?" 

"Of course it is Fitz!" She answered with a soft sigh. "Why? Don't you want us to be friends?" 

"No! I mean yes … Yeah I think I'd really like us to be friends …" He replied, his voice barely more than a whisper and immediately looking away from her after. 

"Good … 'cause we're already friends anyway …" She said with a soft smile. And then, after hesitating for a moment, she gently brought her hand to his face to make him look at her. It was so tender and unexpected he didn't even try to resist, even leaning into it for a second. Only a second though, because he felt like if he kept his cheek against the softness of her hand for just a little bit longer, he might never want to let go. He was always joking about her trying to leech out the warmth from his hands when she was helping him with his rehab but right now, it felt like it was the tenderness he could leech out of hers. 

"Fitz?" She asked quietly. "Why is it so hard for you to trust people and believe they just want to spend time with you without any hidden agenda?" She added and he just shrugged. 

"I don't know … I guess I never really had many reasons to believe that. People just don't usually stick around …" He trailed off. He knew she probably wouldn't be satisfied with that explanation and expected her to push forward. 

Instead, she tilted her head to the side, looking at him like he was the result to one of her experiments and she didn't know quite what to make of it. Then a small smile tucked at her lips and she turned around to walk towards where both their coats were hanged. She put hers on and told him to put on his with a tone that wasn't even bossy but that still somehow brood no argument. So he did as he was told.

And then she took his hand to lead him out of the lab and towards the outside door. 

"Jemma, where are we …" He started but she cut him off. 

"Just follow me. Okay?" She said, not waiting for his answer as they passed the door and started walking across the quad. 

"Okay …" He just said. Still, for some reason, she didn't let go of his hand. Did she even notice it? Did she do it on purpose because she thought he might actually run away? She was being uselessly mysterious but that wasn't scary enough for him to refuse to follow her. Or maybe she did just want to leech out his warmth with her icy hands. Or maybe she just actually liked to hold his hand? Was it an acceptable behavior between friends? Even ones from opposite genders. Well at least he knew HE found it nice. Her hands were always soft and would get warmer soon so he decided to keep holding it despite the few amused, surprised or wrongly knowing looks from a few people who knew them both. Jemma obviously noticed them too and if anything, she squeezed his hand a little harder and as cold as her hand still was, he felt that warm feeling in his chest once more. 

A few minutes later, they made it to their dormitory and she lead him to the fourth floor and then to her room where she finally let go of his hand to, apparently, look for something inside one of her desk drawers. 

"Jemma, are you finally going to tell me what we're doing here?" He asked just before she placed something in his hand.

He'd teased her several times about her obsession with order, even calling it unhealthy, more to annoy her than because he really meant it, but he also had to admit he was pretty impressed by the fact that she could find what she was looking for in only a few seconds. That must save her a lot of time, he supposed and thought that, maybe, he should accept her offer to help him rearrange his room and tidy everything up. But that could wait, for now he was curious to see what was in that box that made it so important they crossed the campus in the middle of a work session to see it.

Opening it, he found that it was a box full of photographs. Some apparently fairly recent, some older from the apparent lower quality and the way people were dressed. 

"Obviously I don't have any baby pictures, I think my mom's keeping those in a safe somewhere …" She said with a smirk as a way of an explanation. "But some of those are pretty damn embarrassing … the Spice Girls phase especially hit me pretty bad …" She added and then he saw it. The picture of two little girls, maybe eight years old, one was blond and the other had brown hair and despite her being much younger, there was no mistaking those bright caramel eyes and wide smile and he just couldn't help grinning. 

"Wow … I can't believe they sell platform shoes this size …" He let out with a disbelieving chuckle. 

"They did at the time … Spent six months of allowance money on it only to grow out of them six months later …" She rolled her eyes. 

"Hu Jemma? This is certainly brightening up my day but why did you insist on …" He started but she cut him off. 

"I want you to trust me Fitz … now that you've seen this we're even. Also I didn't even like those shoes that much, I just wanted to fit in with the older girls in my class." She said, rolling her eyes at herself once more. "And that's it, that's pretty much all my darkest secrets! And I'm not saying you have to share every one of your secrets with me but if you want, you can and they'll be safe … whatever happens …" She finished with a soft shy smile on her face and he couldn't believe that him behaving like such an insufferable grump had lead to one of the sweetest things anyone ever said to him. And once more, it was coming from Jemma. 

Feeling speechless, he took a step forward and trying not to overthink it, he took her hand and gave it a little squeeze before letting go. It was a small gesture, something quite ordinary for most people, but he'd never done this before (except when she was helping me with his rehab but that didn't have the same meaning at all) and he hoped it conveyed at least a little bit of his gratitude. If he wasn't so insecure, he would even hug her, he thought he'd like that and maybe she wouldn't mind but it felt like their friendship was still too young for that. Fortunately, it looked like she understood the meaning behind his gesture because he could see her smile from the corner of his eyes as he kept looking at the photographs for a moment, grinning at the unfortunate haircuts and flashy clothes but smiling more fondly at the pride etched on her face as she posed with science trophies and the cutest safety goggles he's ever seen. 

"So hum …" He finally said as he looked up at her and realized she'd obviously seen his smile and was raising an amused eyebrow at him. "My mum really did show you the baby pictures?" He asked and she let out a loud mischievous laugh.

"Yeah I'm afraid so …" She replied as she sat down on the edge of her bed. "But I swear they were only the good ones. I mean who could have thought that such a grump once was such a lovely happy baby!" She added and he relaxed even as he blushed a bit at the compliment. Which was ridiculous honestly, even he knew he was an adorable baby.

"Oh … so that means no naked butts or naked … anything?" 

"Fitz!" She sighed. "I told you there were only the good pictures …" She repeated before her expression turned mischievous again. "… of course there were a lot of naked butts!" She grinned. 

"Wh-what?" 

"Oh yeah … So many adorable naked butts imprinted on my almost perfectly photographic memory …" She grinned, teasingly poking his arm with every word. 

"Ugh stop that!" He cried out, swatting her hand away which only made her laugh harder, her smile almost splitting her face in two and he wished it wasn't so contagious because it was getting hard to remain grumpy. "You're the worst Simmons!" He declared in a tone he knew was incredibly childish anyway so he grabbed one of her many cushions and hit her in the face with it. 

"Hey!" She shrieked, quickly taking it from him before he could hit her again. "You cannot attack me with my own furniture!" 

"Then stop talking about my baby pictures when all you have to show me is a few mildly embarrassing pictures of your childhood!" He retorted. 

"Well we clearly don't have the same notion of what's really embarrassing …" She huffed, but there was no bite to it. 

He sat on the bed next to her and for a moment they shared a nice, comfortable moment of silence. 

"So …" She started after a while, hugging the cushion to her stomach. "Care to tell me why you were in such a bad mood earlier?" 

He knew he didn't have to say anything but her voice was incredibly soft and he knew she saw him wince as she asked the question. Maybe it'd be nice to share this with someone for once. Still, the words didn't seem to want to leave his mouth. 

"Because I'd be willing to attribute it to your Scottishness and general grumpiness but it really felt like there was something else and like I said you don't HAVE to tell me, it's just …"

"No it's alright Jemma, it's just … it's stupid I shouldn't let it affect me …" He trailed off and she gave him an encouraging nod. "Today's my father birthday …" He let out, realizing that he should say more. But Jemma was a very smart girl, she didn't need much to put the pieces back together. 

"And he's … one the people who didn't stick around?" 

"Yeah … left when I was ten …"

"Oh … I'm-I'm sorry Fitz … I don't know what to say …"

"It's alright it's not your fault …" He said with a small chuckle, trying to lighten the mood but she could see right through him.

She didn't say anything for some time and then, just when he thought he might have vexed her or made her uncomfortable, she tentatively put her head on his shoulder. He stiffened at the touch, more as a reflex than actual surprise or discomfort. But then something about it somehow made him feel better. it was strange because it usually was the one putting his head on someone else's shoulder who needed comfort but in her case, it felt like an invitation. Like, even without him having said much, she knew he wasn't used to such simple but tender and important displays of affection, like by doing it, she was showing him that it was okay for him to do the same, making him wish he'd given her that hug earlier. So turning his face to the side, he got a whiff of the faint smell of lavender that he'd come to associate with her in the weeks since he'd started to, consciously or not, consider her a friend, and smiled before finally letting his head rest on top of hers. 

"You know I stand by what I said earlier, whatever you want to share, it'll be safe with me Fitz … "

"Okay …" He simply replied, his voice soft but not trusting himself to say more, between the bitter memories of his childhood and the overwhelmingly friendly and tender attitude coming from Jemma, he felt on the verge of tears. 

"I mean we've only just begun this friendship thing and we've kind of gotten off on the wrong foot so I don't expect you to trust me with everything just yet but …"

"No it's not … I mean it is kind of new but I-I think I can trust you. It's just that I've never talked about this a lot … even with my mom so …" 

"That's alright Fitz, take all the time you need" She said, squeezing his knee briefly with a smile he could feel more than he saw it. 

"Hu Jemma?" He asked after another moment of silence. 

"Yeah …"

"Maybe she should get back to the lab before someone messes up with our stuff …" 

"Oh my god you're right! Of course!" She cried out, almost jumping up from the bed and he felt a small twinge of disappointment at the loss of the comforting contact. But he quickly recovered and stood up, handing her the little box containing the pictures of her with a small grin. She blushed a bit as she took it from him and he wondered what could have prompted that. Did she regret showing him those pictures? But like he said, he barely found them embarrassing at all, amusing at best and most of them rather cute actually. Or maybe she felt a little awkward having been affectionate as she'd been after all …

But he didn't really have the time to ponder on that for too long because after she'd quickly put the box back in her desk drawer, she turned back towards him with a smile and they walked out of the room. But they barely made a few steps before she took his arm and looped her own arm around it. The gesture was nothing new, she'd gotten used to do it when he took his cast off and his leg tended to tire faster than before and get wobbly. Of course now that his rehab was almost over and he'd actually been to the gym to strengthen his muscles, it didn't happen anymore. But as she lead him across the quad once more, chatting animatedly about all the things they could try out to fix his reluctant drone and, actually holding on to him more than she helped him, he decided not to tell her anything. Fuck all these people giving them all kinds of looks, there clearly were worst things than being associated with Jemma Simmons, one way or another. 

-0-0-0-

The rest of the afternoon passed by rather uneventfully. Once they got back to the lab, Fitz was in a much better mood and it helped them work much more efficiently. He was still mostly pensive and quiet but he also seemed more serene. Jemma even had to hide her fond smile a few times when he acted exaggeratedly polite and thoughtful, clearly refraining his own instincts to be grumpy. He asked her if she needed anything every time he went to the supply closet and prepared tea for the both of them, making it exactly to her liking without having to ask her. 

This new situation made her feel a bit shy with him. It was the first time in her life she had to actually tell someone they were friends. She thought it had become obvious for a while now despite their rocky start and considering how much time they already spent together. But knowing just a bit more about his past made her understand him a little better. It made her infinitely sad to imagine what it felt like to be abandoned by someone who should love you unconditionally -and she felt like there was even more to the story- but despite this betrayal so early in his life, once you got past this prickly exterior, it was obvious that Fitz was craved for a connection and Jemma was glad she was the one with whom it worked. Because he was all those things she told him he was and she suspected he was even more. She was more than glad, she was even honored that he accepted her friendship but now she felt some pressure as well because he was probably the one person she couldn't afford to disappoint or he might never open up to anyone else. Which would be a shame because the world needed to know what a fantastic person Leopold Fitz could be. 

They kept working until it got dark outside and even after that. It's only when Fitz's stomach made a loud rumbling noise for the fifth time that Jemma decided they'd worked enough for the day and they should go grab something to eat. Fitz protested at first, saying that he could wait a little longer but she'd discovered some time ago that when she took a certain voice -Fitz called it her doctor voice- he usually did as she told him without further protestation so that was what she did just then. It was strange really how he could snack on all the worst food like a human trash compactor for hours when he was bored, and completely forget to eat -and sleep if the bags under his eyes some mornings were any indication- when he was focused on something important. 

They quickly cleaned up the lab and gathered their stuff -she was amazed once more at how well they worked together when they wanted to- and left the lab to go out for some much needed fresh air. Jemma had agreed to go to the chinese place just outside of campus. It was well past dinner time and even though the cafeteria would still be open, there probably wouldn't be much left and she supposed she could use the 15 minutes walk to get there after staying indoors pretty much all day. 

On the way, Fitz managed to convince her to not eat there but bring the food back to one of their rooms ("We can eat in mine, it already kind of smells like chinese food all the time anyway"). Fitz was absolutely convinced that the place was in fact owned by the Academy as a way to spy on their students when they thought they could talk freely about anything. It was ridiculous of course, if they really wanted to spy on the students they could just do it in the cafeteria, the boiler room or any other place where the students usually let loose inside the campus. But she had to admit, the place was in the middle of nowhere and Mrs Cho's clientele probably consisted in 95% of Academy students so she decided to humor him and not roll her eyes too much when he barely said a word to her all the time they were waiting for their food while giving her not at all subtle nods towards the security cameras or actually gasping at Mrs Cho's, admittedly, impressive use of a knife. 

-0-0-0-

Their conversation didn't get more serious than that, that night. After it somehow strayed towards "Back to the future" and how Jemma thought this was the best time travelling movie ever made -to which Fitz agreed even though it didn't exactly match with his theory that time was fixed and the future couldn't be changed-, they decided to watch the first two movies as they ate to settle their dispute on wether which one was best. Three hours later found them half sitting half lying down on the ground on some of the several cushions she was pretty sure he only bought to make the place look nicer since he'd started to have visitors. (well visitor since she was pretty sure she was the only person to come here except if he had some kind of secret live and secret girlfriends coming to his room, which she hoped he didn't. No that she'd mind him having girlfriends, he could have all the girlfriends he wanted, but she'd definitely be a bit sad about him not telling her everything that was happening in his life. However unreasonable that was and however young their friendship was, she thought they could have something special she never really had with anyone else before.) 

As they credits rolled on the second movie, it didn't take them long to decide to watch the third one. It didn't feel right to watch two of them and not the third and despite them agreeing that they liked this one the least, Jemma just felt too tired and comfy to stand up and she never quite liked watching and commenting a movie as she did with Fitz. She enjoyed this funny, easy going side of him and honestly, even so early in their relationship, there wasn't much she wouldn't have done to see that bright smile grace his face and his laughter fill the room. 

-0-0-0-

"Jemma?" She vaguely heard through the haze of her tiredness. 

"Jemma, come on you have to get up now or you'll never make it to your room …" Fitz's voice insisted in a soft tone closer to her ear.

"Mmmhh … no I'm fine here …" She mumbled and he chuckled as she turned around on her side to move away from his voice.

"That's ridiculous, your room's just two floors up, you're not gonna sleep on the floor …" 

"I've done camping before … just give me a blanket I'll be fine …" She mumbled again. Something in the back of her mind told her that it was unreasonable and quite possibly very rude to impose on someone who might want to have a little bit of privacy after spending the whole day together but it was just so warm and comfy and her body felt so heavy …

"Don't be ridiculous, that floor's really hard and you're all contorted, it'll hurt like hell tomorrow …" He insisted, moving closer to gently rub her shoulder and try to make her move. She knew he was right of course.

"Mmmhhhh …." She groaned.

"Come on …" He said softly as he gently pulled on her arm to make her lie flat on her back once more and then took her hand to get her into a seating position. Once it looked like she wouldn't immediately fall back, he let go for a second, stood up and took her hands once more. She didn't expect him to have such strength or maybe he just didn't expect her to be so light, anyway, they both lost balance a bit and she ended up having to hold onto him not to fall. Her head fitted quite nicely in the crook of his neck, she thought. And he did smell really nice, just as nice as he did when she came to see him first thing in the morning, but with something more, something equally nice and soothing and she could easily close her eyes and … 

"Jemma!"

"What? I didn't mean it that way!" She cried out, pulling back from him, staggering on her feet like she did every time she tried to wear high heels. 

"You didn't say anything, you're just falling asleep again …" He chuckled. "Wait … what did you think you said?" He grinned.

"Nothing …" She blushed. "I really should go … long day tomorrow …" She added before he could insist or tease her further. 

"Yeah okay … I'll walk you there." He said, grabbing his sneakers to quickly put them back on just as Jemma struggled to do the same, her fingers feeling like sausages in the slight hazy state she was still in. 

"No it's alright. I can still walk Fitz!" She huffed in annoyance, regretting it immediately considering the incredibly sweet way he was behaving. But she actually really wanted him to come with because well … sometimes it felt like she just never wanted to be without him and that confused her a lot. She'd never been dependent on anyone before (well except her parents when she was younger but that wasn't the same) and she didn't know what that meant. 

Fortunately, he seemed to attribute her rebuttal to her tiredness because he just rolled his eyes and insisted. 

"Come on, you've helped me do everything for almost two months and you look like a new born fawn, let me just walk you back to your room! Please? For me ... so I can feel a little useful …" He asked with the cutest smile and slight tinkle in his big blue eyes and of course she couldn't say no to that. 

"Fine … I'll allow it, let you be a gentleman for once …" She finally agreed, holding on to his arm once they both had their shoes on. 

Once she got there, she insisted that she would be fine on her own and that she definitely didn't need him to get changed or brush her teeth. (there were usually at least ten more steps in her bedtime routine but she decided that those were the only two essential ones) Still, the only thing she could remember when she woke up the next morning was that she flopped down on her bed the minute she got in, telling herself she'd just rest for five minutes before getting back up to do her minimum routine. But now, her shoes were off, there was a blanket over her, a glass of mouthwash and a glass of water on her nightstand. 

Blinking repeatedly to try and chase the sleep away from her eyes, she spotted her phone on her night stand as well and noticed that there was a blinking blue light meaning she had text messages. Extending her hand to grab it, she groaned as the blinding white light hit her eyes. It was almost six AM which meant she'd have to get up soon unless she decided to forego her morning run for once and give herself an extra half hour of sleep considering the day she's just had. She smiled widely though when she opened her messaging app and saw that she had four messages, all of them from Fitz.

Fitz : In case you were wondering, it was me who put the blanket on you and took your shoes off, not some creep who came in while you slept.

Fitz : Also I would like to stress the fact that it's really not safe to sleep with your door unlocked Jemma … 

She rolled her eyes at that but could not help smiling as well, remembering how she'd lectured him on doing exactly the same. Well, she supposed it was only fair. 

Fitz : Also the mouth wash is not because I think you need it. Your breath obviously always smells minty fresh. But because you might not have the courage to get up and brush your teeth. 

Considering what they ate the previous night, the taste in her mouth and the way her tongue felt like sandpaper, her breath could actually probably be used as a toxic gas. But she appreciated the sentiment and the attention. If she didn't have to get off bed in a few minutes, she would definitely have used it. 

Fitz : Oh and also … thanks for yesterday. And every day before that. And for being my friend and being amazing. < 3 (Even though you're obviously wrong in thinking that Back to the future II is better than the first)

Reading that last text, Jemma let herself fall back against her pillow. Fitz had already said nice things to her before but it was often disguised as teasing or said with a (fake) annoyed huff. But this. This was something else entirely. She was somehow glad that he didn't say that to her face, with his shy smiles and expressive big blue eyes, there was no way the tears clinging to her lashes right now wouldn't have fallen. And that would have embarrassing for the both of them.

Also, Leo Fitz, the grumpiest boy she'd ever met, had sent her a heart emoji. Did he even realize he did it? Anyway, that was quite possibly the most adorable thing she'd ever seen and she would have told him exactly that if she didn't think that would embarrass him. So she finally got off the bed, spent a few minutes stretching and changed into her running clothes. She needed to think of the perfect words to answer him and what better way to do it than while running and enjoying a nice sunrise. The sky was clear and it was shaping up to be a beautiful day at SHIELD Academy.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Finished this one just on time :D Hope you'll enjoy it and now there's only one chapter to go!

Fitz was just about to, very reluctantly, open his SHIELD history textbook to work for the big test he should have studied for days ago, when his phone vibrated. Taking this opportunity to delay for even just a few minutes his working session, he picked it up and smiled widely when he saw that it was a Whatsapp notification. Jemma Simmons to the rescue as always, he thought to himself before he even had the confirmation that it was her. Very few people had his phone number and out of those few people, only Jemma would send him a message through Whatsapp. Someone from the academy would call him directly or send an email and his mom had just barely gotten the grip on how to type a basic text message, she wasn't going to use Whatsapp anytime soon. 

[Jemma:] The nineties are back and they have shoes for you! 

She'd also sent every shoe emoji she could find as well as a link to something on amazon. Fitz chuckled quietly and opened it. The page displayed a reedition of an old nineties model of velcro sneakers, apparently available in a variety of colors and patterns. If only he didn't hate shopping -even online- so much, he would have browsed the internet instead of simply deciding that those kind of shoes just didn't exist anymore anyway and would have saved himself a little embarrassment during all those weeks Jemma had to tie his shoe laces for him. Although, it had become a pretty fond memory now and he couldn't completely regret it.

[Fitz:] Thanks Jemma, but could you send this to six-months-younger-me? 

[Jemma:] Ugh no! I hate six-months-younger-Fitz, he's a prat! 

[Fitz:] Wow ... mean …

[Jemma:] I'm very fond of present Fitz though ... and I like to think it's thanks to my delightful personality rubbing off on him …

[Fitz:] Wow, it looks like any version of Jemma is pretty delusional 

[Jemma:] :'( 

[Fitz:] But somehow, despite her obvious craziness, I still quite like her : ) 

Fitz had gotten used to their banter becoming a lot friendlier surprisingly fast. He'd come to realize that the way they'd been to each other during those first two months of school had been an anomaly for her because now that he got to know her much better, he could see that there was never an ounce of wickedness behind Jemma's every word or action and that he could trust her completely. But somehow, he was still not entirely used to have someone so sincerely express their affection for him or for him to reciprocate it. But he'd noticed how her face lit up every time he said something even remotely nice to her and that was a sight he was quickly getting addicted to. Making Jemma Simmons happy, he realized, was quickly becoming his favorite thing in the world. So he pushed his shyness and insecurities aside and always tried his best to make her feel cared for and appreciated. Even if it came with a bit of teasing. That was how their friendship had started anyway and either of them would have it any other way.

[Jemma:] : )

[Jemma:] So which is it gonna be? I, myself, am quite partial to the leopard prints ones!

[Fitz:] Wow

[Fitz:] The Spice Girls messed you up pretty bad, did they?

[Jemma:] Hey! Didn't we make a pact stating that we would never talk about those pictures ever again? 

[Fitz:] No I'm pretty sure we didn't!

[Jemma:] Oh … well I'm writing the contract right now … I'll make you sign it later.

[Fitz:] The worst part is that I think you're really going to do it. 

[Jemma:] Of course I am! 

Attached was a screencap of her tablet where she was actually starting to write a contract and he couldn't stop the little chuckle that came out of his mouth, earning himself a glare from the librarian that was just passing by.

[Fitz:] You are completely crazy. You know that right?

[Fitz:] Hey wait! Aren't you supposed to be in microbiology class right now?

This was one of the few classes they didn't share, which was probably the only reason they weren't studying together. Because except for when they were sleeping or attending another class, he couldn't remember spending more than five minutes away from Jemma in weeks. She even managed to convince him to come running with her once in a while, insisting that if they were on the field and under attack some day, running away from the bad guys would probably be their best option anyway. 

[Jemma:] Yes I am, why?

[Fitz:] OH. MY. GOD.

[Fitz:] You're one of us after all! Online shopping and texting instead of listening to the professor!

[Jemma:] No I've just finished the test early but I can't get out class yet AND I was only looking for new running shoes to get in shape for SHIELD's end of year exams coming in a few months when I found these beauties < 3

[Fitz:] Nope … don't buy it … My image of you will always be tainted now that I know that you went online shopping during class AND would wear leopard print anything …

[Jemma:] You know nothing about fashion plaid shirt boy! 

[Jemma:] Plaid shirt boy … doesn't that sound like an eighties pop band? 

Fitz chuckled before answering.

[Fitz:] Yeah they would probably make a terrible duo with Leopard print girl!

[Fitz:] The librarian has been glaring at me for some time now and it's scaring me. I better go back to SHIELD History.

[Jemma:] Okay. Have fun : D 

[Jemma:] See you at lunch?

[Fitz:] Always!

Closing Whatsapp, Fitz saved the amazon link in his favorites and finally turned his phone off altogether. He only had two hours before lunch, he really didn't want to have to study again for that test before going to bed. Jemma and him had this Doctor Who night planned for weeks and he wasn't going to miss it.

-0-0-0-

Jemma was surprised when Sam, the somehow always smiling handyman (considering the huge amount of stupid things a bunch of supposed geniuses always did, it was a miracle he wasn't more of a grump) gave her, not only her usual science journals, when she came to check if she had mail, but also a small package. She'd already received a care package from her parents a week ago, her birthday was several months away and in the end, she'd decided to buy her new running shoes in a actual shop so she could try them on. So thanking Sam and wishing him a good day, she quickly climbed the stairs to her room so she could open this mysterious package. 

When she did though, she didn't even have to wait to see who it was from when she saw a very distinguishable leopard print. She couldn't help but squeak in delight as she took the shoes out of the box. She might have played the whole thing as a joke with Fitz but leopard prints anything were kind of her guilty pleasure. Being younger than everyone else here, she'd decided before the start of year that she should change her wardrobe. She needed her style to be more classical with neutral colors and only a few very smart prints that would make her at least appear more adult. Of course, once she got there, she realized that most people here were still relatively young, most of them in their early twenties, some younger and THEY didn't care how young they looked with their nerdy t-shirts or brightly colored clothes and she ended up being the one looking a little out of place anyway. But she still liked her new wardrobe so she kept it that way. But those sneakers, she loved them already, maybe even more than she would normally do because they had to come from Fitz. Fitz who, somehow, knew what her shoe size was without ever asking her or checking it on some other shoes she had. (She thought she would have noticed Fitz taking one of her shoes to check the size. He could be a bit of weirdo, but not that kind of weirdo. He was the kind who could recite all Doctor Who's episode names, in order, or list his favorite football team's stats from the last fifteen years and that made him so endearing to her.)

In the bottom of the box, there was a small note, computer printed by amazon obviously, but she could easily recognize Fitz's style.

Hey Jemma,  
Happy un-birthday to you ! (couldn't find an actual real occasion, so un-birthday it is) Come and have tea with me whenever you get those! You'll recognize me easily, I'll be the one wearing the same sneakers. (Except that mine are red. They, fortunately, didn't have my size in the leopard print)  
Hope you like them : )  
F.

Her heart fell full to bursting with fondness and affection as she quickly toed off her flats and grabbed a pair of thicker socks to try on her new sneakers. She'd already noticed how awkward and uncomfortable Fitz sometimes was when expressing his feelings, and that alone told her a lot about what his childhood must have been like, but recently he'd started doing it more and more naturally. And where she pegged him as grumpy and lacking basic social skills when they met, she was now realizing that Fitz just wore his emotions, all his emotions, on his face and he just cared a lot. And a good deal about her, it seemed. And as was always the case now when she thought about him, that left a huge smile on her face. 

Tying up her laces, she stood up and walked the few meters to the opposite side of her room and back, jumped up and down a few times and stood up on her toes before finally letting out a pleased hum. They were super comfortable on top of being absolutely gorgeous. She was about to send him a thank you text but decided that these beauties and his incredibly adorable gesture deserved a face to face thank you. Also, she hadn't seen him since lunch the previous day and however needy that might sound, she kind of missed his face already. They usually ate lunch and dinner together every day (and breakfast as well most days) but she'd been stupid enough to accept going on a date with Steve Hawkins last night and it had been a bloody waste of time. She'd succumbed to peer pressure in the form of her classmate Cali telling her that he was cute and she hadn't been dating all year and people were starting to talk and she couldn't spend all her time with Fitz anyway. And she'd also succumbed to her own hormone fueled adolescent mind telling her that Steve was quite attractive and really well muscled (especially for someone from SciTech). But after three extremely boring hours of listening him talk about himself and being condescending by reminding her that he was older and knew better (which made him sound like an older relative, which was especially creepy), she'd started noticing all the things about him that were not attractive at all, like his highly non-expressive ordinary eyes and the way his beefy hands almost crushed hers when he tried to take her hand at the end of the evening. (and really how thick and self-centered could he be thinking that it had gone well enough for him to do that?)

So when she finally got rid of him and went back to her room, she wanted to do two things. First, text Cali and tell her that she could, in fact, spend all her time with Fitz because she'd just gathered more evidence that were no one else quite as interesting. And then, text Fitz and ask if he was still awake and if they could hang out a bit before sleep. But she supposed he'd actually been asleep because he didn't answer. So that meant he went to bed early and probably woke up early too so he'd probably want an early lunch. The weather was nice and it was Saturday, they could take their time for once, so she decided to surprise him and prepare sandwiches and snacks for a picnic. Still, she decided to text him about lunch to make sure that the perpetually hungry monster living in his stomach wouldn't make him go to the cafeteria without waiting for her. 

-0-0-0-

An hour later, she'd packed everything for their picnic including fruits and veggies that she'd force him to eat before he was allowed the chips and biscuits (she was 95 percents positive that he'd have scurvy by now if they never became friends), but Fitz was nowhere to be found. When he didn't answer her text, she figured he left it in silent mode after class yesterday and didn't see that he had a text. So she went directly to his room but he didn't answer and she couldn't hear a sound coming from it so he really didn't seem to be there. As she walked to the cafeteria and then to the library and the lab they usually worked at, she tried to call him but it went to voice mail every time and she couldn't find him at either of those places. 

And that's when she started panicking because the truth was that she didn't hear from him since the previous day's early afternoon and what if something had happened to him? What if he went out and got himself into another car accident? What if he hit his head on the corner of that shelf above his bed again but this time harder and it made him lose consciousness and he was actually in his room bleeding to death? Her rational mind told her that there was most likely another simpler explanation and that he was probably fine but that didn't stop the tears to pool in her eyes and her heart to start beating hieratically as she climbed the stairs back to his floor and see if by some miracle, he was in his room now. Of course, he'd chosen to start listening to her and lock his door which meant she couldn't just barge into his room. 

But that was actually not necessary because as she got closer, she noticed that the door was slightly open and there was music coming out of his room now. She felt an inexplicable bout of anger towards him when she saw him just sitting at his desk, working on some design and looking perfectly calm and relaxed when she'd been out imagining the worse for the past … fifteen minutes. Oh. Well that had definitely felt longer. 

"Fitz!" She cried out as she stepped inside, obviously startling him. 

"Hey Jemma, what the hell are you …" He started but interrupted himself when he saw the look on her face. "What's wrong? Is everything alright?"

"Is everything al … Fitz! I've been trying to reach you since last night and then I came here earlier and you weren't there!" She cried out, aware that she sounded a little crazed but unable to stop herself. 

"Oh … sorry … you know I leave my phone on silent mode most of the time anyway … you must have come when I was in the shower. I've been making great progress on this since last night ..." He said, pointing to the design on his desk with an excited grin on his face. "… and I woke up with even more new ideas and didn't want to wait another minute before working on it."

"Oh …" She said, now feeling even more ridiculous for overreacting like she did because, of course, the real explanation sounded much more plausible than the Final Destination type of accident she'd pictured in her brain. "But I-I … I texted you AND called you …"

"Yeah well you know how dangerous it is for me to answer your phone calls!" He said, grinning in that way he did when he made some kind of private joke except that she didn't understand it at all. 

"What hu … what do you mean Fitz?" 

"Oh no nothing. I was just kidding, forget about it!" He answered, acting like he'd just been silly but she could see that he was backpedalling and there was something in his eyes that told her it wasn't just one of the few awkward jokes she didn't understand.

"Fitz what is it? What did you mean?" She insisted, using a tone she hoped was convincing enough for him to explain himself.

"Nothing just … you know ... I'd just hung up the phone when I got into my accident at the start of year …" He said, his smile now incredibly uncomfortable. 

"Oh my god Fitz …" Of course, she'd felt guilty about what she'd told him that day and she had even planned on apologizing but then everything happened and she'd said even more horrible things to him and she didn't realize the timeline of the whole thing back then and … oh god, she truly was a terrible person. 

"Hey hey hey I'm sorry that was a bad joke, that guy just passed a red light, that wasn't your fault. I thought you knew or I wouldn't have said …"

"But I've been so mean to you and hu … " The sob escaped her lips before she could even realize it and the next second he was standing before her, gently putting one hand on her shoulder and pulling her to him. She only hesitated a second before she wound her arms around his waist and let her face rest in the crook of his neck. Even though, he was the one to initiate it, he was a bit more hesitant and she could feel his hands hover awkwardly over her for a moment before he finally relaxed and wound his arms around her tight, resting his warm palms on her back. From this perspective, he felt a lot more solid than she ever thought he would but she liked that he wasn't that much bigger than she was and just the right height to whisper sweet words of reassurance in her ear. 

"Hey hey it's alright Jemma, don't cry. I really don't blame you for it, never did, even when I hated you." He chuckled, trying to make her feel better but she could hear in his voice that it affected him as well. She felt horrible but the last thing she wanted was to make him feel bad with her tears, but apparently, she just couldn't stop.

"But I was so mean and you wouldn't have been distracted if I hadn't said those things to you, you could have died in that accident …" She said, her voice muffled as she spoke into his neck and a new sob wrecking her body as she thought of the possibility. She felt ridiculous overreacting over something that just could have happened but that was just how important Fitz had become.

"That wouldn't have changed a thing and you were right anyway i didn't have a friend back then … but I do now …" He said in that soft voice that usually made her heart melt with fondness. He was rubbing soothing circles between her shoulder blades in such a tender way that it made her want to purr and finally slowly helped her heart beat come back to a more steady pace. 

"Yeah?" She asked, feeling better but not willing to let go of him just yet. He just felt too warm and nice so comforting. She should have hugged him a long time ago. He didn't seem to have much experience but he was already an excellent hugger. 

"Yeah …" He said. "And I wouldn't change a thing anyway because if it wasn't for that accident, we might have never become friends … or maybe we might have I don't know but I-I … I'm not willing to take the risk …" He added. And there it was again the heart melting sweetness mixed with something she couldn't quite define in his voice. It almost sounded like surprise but maybe it was just because his voice was muffled from his face being half buried in her hair. It all felt so much tender than anything she'd experienced in a long time, it was almost confusing. She could easily have stayed that way for hours, or as long as he'd be fine holding her like that, but in the same time, she wanted to see his face. He usually said these things via text messages and it must have taken some courage for him to say it out loud. So in the end, it was her second instinct that won. 

"Oh Fitz …" She said with a wide fond smile, as she moved back a little to look up at him. "I feel the same way …" 

There was a moment of silence where they just smiled at each other and he looked like he was studying her face for … something and her heart was starting to beat faster again for some reason and had his eyes always been this blue and his lashes so long it was almost hypnotic? But just as her hand started to go up from where it was still resting lightly on his waist all the way up to his face, because for some reason she felt compelled to touch his face, a wide grin tucked at his lips. 

"So … now that you fell better, is it alright for me to point out that you look very much like a raccoon right now?" 

"Ugh Fitz!" She cried out, swatting his chest in annoyance. Because he made fun of how she looked of course, not because she wanted to know what that fragile moment could have lead to. Or maybe just a little bit. But only because she'd always had an inquisitive mind and she hated to leave things unfinished. "Ugh … Of all the days to choose wearing non-waterproof mascara …" She added, trying her best to wipe her eyes and cheeks and clearly not succeeding from the way he still grinned at her. 

"Hey that's fine though …" He said, gently grabbing her wrist to stop her. Turning around, he grabbed a tissue from the box on his desk and gently started to wipe her cheeks for her. He used his other hand to gently lift her chin up and it felt strangely intimate and … very distracting. Especially with his face so close to hers. Again. 

"Have you already see a raccoon? They're pretty cute and have you seen what they can do with their little hands? If we could train one, I'm pretty sure it would make a great lab assistant …"

"I thought you wanted a monkey assistant?" She cut him off with a grin. 

"Well that's the dream of course but … not a lot of monkeys in the area aren't there? BUT I've seen at least two different raccoons behind the cafeteria building and I think they like me so with the offer of fresh food and … WHAT?" 

"Nothing … please continue!"

She knew she probably should have found this ridiculous and childish but that was completely adorable and she couldn't help smiling fondly so she humored him and spent the next five minutes listening to him explain how he could tame a raccoon and make him his assistant. 

-0-0-0-

Once Jemma managed to convince him that as smart as raccoons could be, it would break several lab protocols to have one as an assistant, they finally decided to go out and have lunch in the quad like Jemma had planned before they got sidetracked. 

"Hey you got the sneakers!" Fitz cried out as he crouched to tie his own shoe laces. 

"Oh yeah, that was why I wanted to see you, I guess I got distracted …" 

Somehow worrying about your best friend being in mortal danger and then learning that you were, even indirectly, responsible for putting him in an even bigger one months ago, that was the kind of thing that distracted you. Wait, best friend? Well, who was she kidding? Of course he was her best friend, she just never bothered to say the words out loud. She had a few other friends, some back home, some here at the academy, and she liked them well enough but no of those relationships came close to what she had with Fitz. Their minds were connected in a way that she didn't even think was possible and she felt a fondness for him that sometimes threatened to overwhelm her. 

"So do you-do you like them?" Fitz asked almost shyly, interrupting her in her own self revelations. 

"Fitz!" She cried out happily. "Of course I do! They're absolutely gorgeous." He grinned then. "Thank you so much I love them. And I-that was the whole point of the picnic actually to thank you … and spend a nice moment with my Fitz!" She added when he lifted an eyebrow, and of course that last sentence only made him lift another eyebrow but she just smiled and stood by what she said. It was perfectly legitimate of her to claim Fitz as hers. She'd taken care of him for weeks, dressed him, fed him and gave him all the affection he needed, he was definitely hers. 

"Oh … hum good then … I'm glad you like them. And hum thanks for the picnic but you didn't have to …" 

"I know I didn't have to but I wanted to!" She cut him off. "But how did you even know my shoe size?" 

"I saw it on the underside of your sneakers the other day, I have an excellent memory!" He said, avoiding her gaze a bit as he opened the door to let her pass and closed it after her.

"Yet you couldn't remember what horrible color was Professor Vaughn's shirt was half an hour after the end of class when we spent three hours listening to him!" She grinned with a raised eyebrow.

"Ugh Jemma, I have an excellent memory for important things!"

"My shoe size's important?" 

"Anything about you's important!" He replied almost automatically before his eyes went wide as he realized what he'd just said. 

"Awww Fitz!" She swooned. 

"Don't awww Fitz me, I didn't mean it like that-I …" 

"Yes you did!" She cut him off. "You're adorable!" 

"No I'm not adorable ... I'm a grumpy Scot!" He huffed in annoyance, which was extremely childish and, of course, even more adorable and she couldn't help laughing. 

"Yes sometimes … but most of the time you're the sweetest teddy bear"

"'m not!" 

"Yes you are. Case in point, those beautiful sneakers!" She grinned and on impulse, pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. And almost like he wanted to prove her point, he started blushing in the most adorable way possible.

"Ugh Simmons!" He sighed and let out another exaggerated huff of annoyance as he started walking ahead. But Jemma quickly caught up and laced her arm through his. And even though, he tried to glare at her, he didn't push her away and she was pretty sure he actually pulled her a little bit closer to him. 

-0-0-0-

Lunch in the quad turned into passionate conversations interspaced with small naps and lazy walks through the park. They talked about their ongoing projects, about the coming summer holidays or Jemma's horrible date ("I told you he was almost stupid enough to be in Ops" Fitz had told her and he looked way too pleased with himself when she went in details about the evening). Jemma knew that she should probably call it a day at some point and go to her room to start working on what she had planned for this afternoon. But it was all so nice with the sun and the light breeze and Fitz was in such a delightful mood, smiling and laughing and affectionate. She'd tried to be strong several times during the afternoon but Fitz was quite impossible to interrupt when he talked about monkeys. (he'd abandoned his raccoon assistant idea and was now back on his monkey assistant one). And she'd learned that afternoon that she was apparently physically incapable of waking him up, especially when he fell asleep with his head on her stomach. And when she touched his hair (to try and wake him up and not because it was super soft and springy), he'd made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a purr. So the boy had apparently turned into a kitten and he was still arguing with her about being adorable? 

When the sun started going down and the temperature to drop, they went to grab something from the cafeteria and promised themselves that they would only watch one Doctor Who episode as they ate and then, Fitz would go back to his room and they would get to work on their separate projects like they were supposed to do. 

But at some point during the episode, Jemma started yawning and wondered how Fitz managed to work so late at night when it wasn't even nine and she felt exhausted already. It was a simple innocent question and she didn't even really expect him to answer. Some people were just night owls and other were early birds like herself. But suddenly, it all came out of him, the things she'd been wondering about his father and his childhood since that conversation they had weeks ago. Maybe it was because he had his back to her, sitting on the floor against the edge of her bed and it made it easier for him to confide in her or maybe he'd finally reached a point where he thought he could trust her completely. Or maybe some things are just too painful to remain locked inside.

Anyway, he told her how his father usually passed out from the alcohol around midnight and how it was the only moment where the house was quiet and serene enough for him to focus on his work. Jemma didn't say much as he kept speaking, telling her about the infinitely sad and sometimes terrifying stories of his childhood. Because what was an appropriate answer to such a story when you've had such a normal and happy childhood? Her own feeling of loneliness from being so much smarter than everyone else seeming so unimportant compared to what he'd been through. At some point, she went down to sit next him against the edge of the bed and, gradually, moved closer to him until she could wrap her arm around his shoulder. He gladly accepted the offer of affection and Jemma promised herself that, whatever happened, she'd never let go of him. Fitz might just be the most precious she had in her life and she would do everything to make sure he would never have suffer the way he suffered as a child.

-0-0-0-

Jemma knew she should have studied in the library but the weather was just so nice and this part of the quad was usually really quiet. And it had been until these three girls decided to come sit just under the big oak tree a few feet away from her and start gossiping about boys and giggles about it like high schoolers. Honestly, she'd hoped that by joining an Academy that only recruited the most brilliant people, the level of conversations would be much higher than everywhere else but well … apparently not. She tried glaring at them but their backs were turned -not that she thought she was scary anyway- and she thought about leaving to go to the library but Fitz would be joining her for lunch in about fifteen minutes anyway. So she tried to block them out and focus on her microbiology textbook. And she succeeded for a good five minutes until she heard something that caught her ear.

"But doesn't that bother you that he's like five years younger than you, you cougar? Not to mention super grumpy all the time …" 

Of course, they could be talking about someone else or someone not from the Academy but that sounded an awful lot like Fitz. She didn't mean to eavesdrop but it wasn't like she'd be able to block their voices now that she knew what they were talking about.

"Nah … I dig the whole grumpy Scot thing and I'm pretty sure I could teach him a thing or two if you know what I mean …" 

The girls giggled. Ugh. _Of course everybody knows what you mean you little …Poor Fitz. He'd to hear to people gossiping about him that way!_

"And I mean, he's an engineer, he's gotta be good with his hands. And I wouldn't mind getting mine on that glorious little ass!"

"Yeah have to agree on that one!" The third girl, the one who hadn't talked yet, said. "That's the kind of ass you only see on guys from Operations!" She added and the other two sighed loudly. 

"Ugh you and your meatheads from Ops!" The first girl said. "But I have to admit he's really not my type and definitely too young for me but I'd like to thank whoever convinced him to wear more fitted pants, especially when he spends half his lab time bent over his bench giving us all a pretty fantastic view." 

"I know, right?" The second girl answered and Jemma could almost the waggle of her eyebrows.

They giggled again and Jemma had to muffle her indignant huff. Honestly, those girls! She couldn't believe that all they saw in Fitz was his (admittedly rather well formed) hands and his nicely shaped bum. And well of course, she'd noticed that about him, she'd been spending most of her waking time with him for months, she would have to have been blind not to, but there was so much more to him. His incredible brain to start with. And his sweetness and generosity, his wits, his weirdly endearing sense of humor and really if they were going to focus on the physical aspects, how could they not notice his amazing blue eyes or his delicate facial features really?

"Well, then make a move, ask him out or something!" 

"Well, I tried! Sent him all the signals I could think of. At least I know he likes girls because he definitely looked at my cleavage …"

"That's because you pretty much threw your boobs at his face. Poor thing. Honestly even I could barely look away and I definitely like boys." The third girl said. 

Oh now Jemma knew who she was! Honestly she hadn't known wether to feel bad or embarrassed for her because clearly all her very obvious attempts at flirting had all gone over his head. But now she was glad that he reacted like he did, he deserved someone who'd like him for what he was inside as well. She probably should have told her to try and talk to him about science projects or science-fiction to get him interested. Her agressive physical flirtation had probably scared him more than anything but that was fine by her because Jemma didn't really want to have to share him with anyone else anyway. However immature it might be.

"Yeah exactly! I wasn't subtle but still … nothing … maybe I'm just not his type …" 

"Of course you're not his type …" The third girl said and Jemma almost giggled at the vexed squeak the other girl let out. That would teach her for being so shallow. "… because his type is brown haired British biochemists named Jemma Simmons!" 

_WHAT?_

"What? No, they're just friends …"

_Yes! Thank you!_

"Oh come on, she obviously made him buy his super fitted pants just so she could get in them! I've seen them shopping together once."

_Oh now what? You can't use your superior fashion sense to help a friend buy new clothes without it meaning anything._

She only picked fitted pants because it suited his lean frame much better. It wasn't her fault his bum just … stood out when he wore them. And honestly, was she invisible? They walked right past her before they settled under the tree and now they were acting like she wasn't there at all. Or did they really think she couldn't hear them?

"They do everything together" The first girl added. "Even saw them holding hands once …"

"And saw her leave his room pretty late at night a few times …" 

"Well I never saw them kiss, not once, not even in a dark corner of the boiler room or something!" The second girl cried out although she sounded definitely not as convinced as she should be. 

"Maybe they're just prude, maybe it's a British thing or because they're just so young. And even if it hasn't happened already it's only a matter of time. Have you seen the way they look at each other with literal heart eyes?"

"Ugh you girls are the worst!" 

_Yeah you really are! Literal heart eyes really? People really need to learn how to use that word!_

"Aww, poor thing! Well I'm afraid you won't get to see what's under his kilt but you can still join the betting pool on those two and make money out of your misery!" 

_WHAT? WHAT? There's a betting pool now?!_

Jemma was tempted to go talk to them and set the story straight and tell them how immature it was to bet on people's relationships, but they started talking about how they thought professor Vaughn was sleeping with professor Stevens and that wasn't something she wanted to hear so she tried her best to block them out once more. And, to her own surprise, she realized that what bothered her the most was that they would bet on them, not they thought they were together. Because, at least, that meant most girls would stay away from Fitz and that thought weirdly reassuring.

Not that she thought he didn't deserve their attention, quite the contrary in fact. She thought most of them didn't deserve _his_ attention. 

And it wasn't because she wanted him for herself either. Of course she knew first hand how sweet and smart and funny and generous he was. And he could be so adorably thoughtful too, but those were all qualities someone expected to find in a strictly platonic friendly relationship. Not that he wasn't physically attractive, mind you. She couldn't not notice his eyes or his jaw or his whole beautifully symmetrical face really and well, she had to admit these girls weren't wrong about his bum. But it wasn't like she wanted to do anything about it, they weren't physical with each other. Except of course when she hugged him or they fell asleep on each other's shoulders … or stomach or … Well okay maybe they were a bit physical with each other but no more than two very best friends could be right? Why should she not do it when he always felt so warm and solid and comfortable and he smelt so nice? Boys never usually smelt this nice. They always either smelt like sweat or some awfully agressive and supposedly male deodorant when Fitz smelt like … well he smelt like Fitz and home somehow. 

So she supposed their friendship was unusual but they were both quite unusual too and Jemma never cared what people thought of her anyway. She didn't care that people thought they were a couple just because she held his hand a few times or that they'd been kissing or sleeping together or whatever just because they spent a lot of time in each other's room. Admittedly, she had wondered once or twice what it would be like to kiss him but only because she'd only kissed two boys in her life and it was a long time ago. And it had been nice she supposed, but not quite as magical as what you could read in stories and Jemma was nothing but a very curious girl and she wondered if those were all exaggerations or if she'd just never been kissed properly. And Fitz was always gentle and his lips were rather well formed and he never had a bad breath which was a remarkable feat considering the amount of coffee he drank and all the junk food he ate.

And they spent all their time together and she was still only a sixteen years old girl after all. It was just a hormonal thing. He was a very sweet, funny, smart and attractive boy she'd thought about kissing and he was her favorite person in the world and even though it had only been months, she probably loved him more than anyone or anything but surely that didn't mean she was …

"Jemma?" 

"Oh my ..." She cried out before remembering the girls a few feet away and lowering her voice. "Fitz you scared me half to death!" She hissed.

"Sorry ..." He said, grinning in a way that made him look like he wasn't sorry at all. "You did look miles away, is everything alright?" 

He'd crouched down next to her and his face was distractingly close and did he really have to angle his face in a way that made it look like it'd been sculpted by bloody Michelangelo? He was smiling softly down at her though and she had no choice but to reciprocate.

"Yeah of course! It's just-I'm-I'm just famished actually ... Can we go now?" She couldn't have him stay so close to her for much longer and even though he didn't speak especially loud, Fitz wasn't lowering his voice and the last thing she wanted was for the girls to realize she'd been there the whole time and that now Fitz was too. 

She didn't wait for his answer and quickly put her books and pens back in her bag. He took her hands to pull her up like it was the most natural thing in the world and, as always, he put just a little too much strength into it and she ended up crashing into him. She suspected he did it on purpose because he should just know by now that he didn't need to pull this hard and also, he always had this tiny amused smirk in the corner of his lips when he did it. 

And of course, of course, he chose this time to let his gaze linger on her face longer than he usually would and his smile turned softer and it made her heart beat a little faster and oh … oh god she was actually completely in love with him. She could feel herself blush and her eyes widen in terror which was ridiculous because it wasn't like he could read her mind and even if he could, it wasn't like it was so terrifying. Surprising, game changing, confusing and just a feeling she didn't really know what to do about. She quickly looked away, took a step back and started walking, hoping he'd be too distracted by the prospect of food to point out her strange reaction. A moment later, he followed her, running a bit to catch up to her.

"Wow I think that's the first time I've seen you being hungrier than I am!" He said cheerfully. "I must rubbing off on you!"

"Ah hu yeah …. yes … must be that" She replied, trying her best not to sound too awkward all without looking into his eyes or staying too close to him. Of course, Fitz noticed none of that -for a genius he could really be oblivious sometimes- and instead put his arm around her shoulder, gently pulling her towards him in a sweet and slightly possessive gesture that sent her heart racing once more. He'd been doing that a few times in the past two weeks, especially since they had that long talk about his childhood and she simply took it as a sign that he was finally completely comfortable with her. But now that she knew how she felt, she wondered if this could be a sign that maybe, his own feelings had shifted a bit oo. 

Argh! those feelings were already messing with her head and making her question everything and she'd only acknowledged them a few minutes ago! 

"Come on then" He half whispered into her ear. "Let's get you something to eat, my treat!" 

His low voice and the thought that he would only have to move his lips a few centimeters down to press a kiss to that sensitive spot on her neck made her blush and grin and shiver all at the same time and she thought that she was no better than him because as the genius that she was, she should have done the maths a long time ago and realized that love + physical attraction + tenderness + friendship could only equal to romantic love. 

Well, one thing was for sure, she wasn't going to decide what to do about it when he was there with her and being incredibly distracting, so she looped her arm around his waist and decided to enjoy this moment, hoping that whatever happened between them from now on, she'd never lose the privilege of being held in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The part about Jemma being a little bit obsessed about how nice Fitz smells is inspired by an interview of Chloe Bennet where she goes into details saying how nice Iain always smells and how she always sticks her nose in his neck because of it (and how he always pushes her away of course :D)  
> Jemma's obsession with leopard print is of course inspired by Elizabeth's obsession :D


	7. Chapter 7

He had all the facts and gathered all the proofs he could think off. He'd even done a few more experiments and consigned the results in his notebook in a very thorough and precise way that would make Jemma proud of him. Except, of course, that under any circumstances would she be allowed to see this particular notebook because, obviously, she'd be pretty pissed that he decided to conduct experiments without her, especially when she was the first person concerned. 

But Fitz had very little experience in all of this and when he finally realized that the answer that's been evading him for countless sleepless nights and daydreaming sessions during professor Vaughn's classes simply was that he was in love with Jemma Simmons, he was at a loss for what to do about it. So since science had never failed him and the only friend he could have turned to for advice anyway, was Jemma, he decided to apply the scientific method. 

First, he examined all the facts that led him to the epiphany that came upon him that time he was holding her in his arms and heard himself say that he'd never risk change a thing because he was too scared that would mean they never became friends. And that was entirely true. He couldn't even imagine his life without her now, the prospect of it just seemed so dreadful. After all, they'd been spending all their time together for months and she was her best friend, it shouldn't have surprised him to realize that he truly loved her. But he supposed it was just because of his family history that didn't prepare him to love anyone, especially not so much and after so little time. So he carried on with his days, feeling like his heart had grown two sizes knowing what it was like to love someone so much. That was also the same day he'd finally told her about his father and it was hard but it also felt nice and liberating when he'd always thought it'd be simpler to bottle it up and try to forget those painful memories.

But in the following weeks, he'd started thinking about her a lot. Of course he already thought about her pretty much all the time. When they weren't together -which wasn't often anyway- there was always something reminding him of her, wether it was a private joke or another classmate acting stupidly and making him wish he was with Jemma instead of where he was at the moment. But the way he was thinking about her now was different. Whenever he tried to sleep or let his mind drift away during a boring class, he would think about her smile, and how that never failed to make him smile, or how nice it was when she looped her arm around his waist when they walked side by side sometimes or how it sent shivers down his spine when she took his hand and massaged it when she saw it twitching or trembling at the end of a long day (the only lingering effect of his accident). 

And finally it took something quite simple for him to have his second epiphany. One day, He saw his kind of friend Justin with his girlfriend and felt a pang of jealousy. They were simply seated under a big oak tree in the quad, their backs to its big trunk and he was holding her close as she slept against his chest. He was looking down at her with such naked affection that it made him wonder if, being such a nerdy weirdo, he would ever have something like that.

And then it hit him. 

That was exactly what he had with Jemma. In fact, he could even remember several instances where they were in that exact same position and he was pretty sure that was how he looked at her most of the time now. And add to that the fact that they held hands and cuddled and apparently didn't feel like spending any time with anyone but each other (not to mention the million other things he loved about their relationship) and you had no choice but to come to the conclusion that he was in love with her.

The second phase of his plan was to try and decide if he wanted to do something about it. Their relationship was so precious to him that he was afraid taking it this one big step further might mess it all up. But in the end, it was the shortest and easiest phase of all. They'd just spent their free day together talking, walking with their arms entwined more often than not and swimming (swimming!!! Which obviously meant seeing Jemma in a bathing suit and if he believed in these kinds of things, he would have thought it was a sign from the universe). And when the evening came, Jemma had her head on his shoulder as they watched a movie and he couldn't focus on it because he was too busy thinking about how easy it would be to lean in and kiss her. And how much he wanted to. So, despite the risk, it was clear to him that he wanted more. Not just because the curves of her body and her full lips appealed to his lizard brain but because he loved her deeply and more of Jemma could only make him happier. Whatever she'd be willing to give him. 

Which of course led to the third phase: find out if she felt the same. When it came to matters of the heart, Fitz was mostly unexperienced and not really courageous so if he was going to take the leap, he had to know there was at least a small chance she wasn't going to reject him. To him, that sounded quite unlikely but after all, he still didn't completely understand how someone as amazing as Jemma Simmons wanted to spend all her time with him so who knew? 

So the next two or three weeks, he spent all the time he could, not just looking at her like he already did so often anyway, but observing her. He noticed how often she iniated physical contact and how rarely it was actually necessary. He noticed how if he looked at her long enough, she would always feel it somehow, look up and smile at him without even questionning why he was looking at her in the first place. Aknowledging all the attentions, small touches and lingering looks that had been there between them for a while, Fitz became more daring. Not a lot, he didn't want to outward flirt or make her uncomfortable. So he just tried to stand or sit closer whenever he could and realized how naturally she leaned into him when he did. When he could, he also held her gaze a little longer and thought he could see ... something in her eyes. 

So when he perused through his special Jemma notebook that night before going to her room for movie night, he came to the surprising conclusion that there was a good chance she had more-than-friendship feelings for him too.

And maybe it was just wishful thinking but now, it felt like she was cuddled up to him even closer than usual. With her head in the crook of his neck and her arm tight around his waist rubbing, consciously or not, small circles against where his shirt had ridden up and a little skin was showing, she was definitely invading his personal space and Fitz told himself it might not take a lot for both their personal spaces to become one. He just needed a bit of courage. Taking a deep breath, Fitz reminded himself that all he had to do was say something, anything to make a first step. They'd taken on the habit of finishing each other's sentences and communicating on a level that didn't require many words so if he wasn't mistaken, she would understand and meet him in the middle. Hopefully. 

So ... should he ask her out to dinner right away? No that'd be weird and too formal. Plus they has dinner together all the time, she might not even understand he meant it as a date.

Should he just tell her he loved her? No she looked so focused on the movie, he might have to repeat himself and that would definitely ruin the moment. 

And then, finally, he remembered something his mom told him the previous day. It probably wouldn't lead to one of those romantic speeches he'd rehearsed in his brain but that would be a start. 

"So hum …" He started then cleared his voice when he realized how ridiculously low it was. There really was no use acting like he was any manlier than Jemma perfectly knew him to be. "I had my mom on the phone yesterday …"

"Good boy!" Jemma grinned, patting his hair with her free hand before focusing back on the screen. Which was weird really. He'd let her choose the movie because he couldn't care less about what they were going to watch anyway and he was pretty sure she'd told him it was a Jane Austen adaptation but now there were zombies and Jemma didn't seem surprised at all, except when she was supposed to and buried her face deeper into his neck. 

"That wasn't ALL I wanted to say. She told me she didn't actually ASK you to do everything you did for me back when I had my accident …" 

"Oh well … maybe she forgot … you know she's not getting any younger …" 

Jemma tried to play it cool but he could feel her tense slightly. He wasn't sure that was the reaction he was waiting for but that was something at least.

"No she distinctly remembers you promising you'd take care of me when she just said she was glad I had someone to look out for me."

"Oh … well you know what they say, once you've saved someone's life, you're responsible for it so …" 

"But you didn't save my life, you just came to see me at the hospital!"

"I'm pretty sure it's the same."

"I'm pretty sure it's not!" He insisted. 

"Really? Well … maybe I just wanted to do it then …" She said, looking up to catch his eyes for a moment. She was biting her lip slightly like she was trying to stop herself from saying something or smiling too wide and there was something sweet and playful in her eyes and he finally knew what to do to get that conversation where he wanted it to go. 

"Okay then … Wanna know something else? Something potentially embarrassing?"

"Always." She grinned.

"When I woke up that day at the hospital, with the drugs making me a bit fuzzy and all and the light hitting you from behind, I did wonder for a moment if I was dead … and if I'd somehow ended up in heaven …" He trailed off and her head shot up once more. Her eyebrows were raised in surprise and quite a bit of delight it seemed, and obviously, she was going to make him say it. 

"Because you looked like an angel …"

"Because you thought I was … pretty?" She asked, her smile at the same teasing and shy and was it … flirty? 

"Because you were … are beautiful …" He answered, never breaking eye contact. 

She was so close that he could actually feel her take a few deeper breaths as her cheeks took on a pinkish tint. He was almost tempted to say that he'd never seen her more beautiful than she was now but before he could say anything, she put her head back against his chest and wiggled slightly to snuggle up even closer as her arm around his waist pulled him to her. He couldn't help chuckling at the thought that she kind of acted as a cat version of herself at the moment. 

"Interesting." She simply said. 

And now she was pushing his shirt up a bit and very consciously caressing the bit of uncovered skin on his waist. For a moment, he wondered if maybe she was taking advantage of his nerves to tease him a bit but then he felt her heart hammering in her chest and when he dared looking down for a second there was a soft smile playing on her lips that he supposed had nothing to do with that weird and gruesome movie they were watching. 

So, she was actually encouraging him? Taking yet another deep breath, he tried not to overthink it and pressed a kiss on her head, the fresh smell of lavender in her hair reminding him how much he wanted what could possibly happen if he finally said the words that would make her understand without a doubt how he felt about her. 

She made a small noise of contentment when he kissed her and he decided to just go for it. After all he'd gathered all the data for weeks now and she was giving him even more positive signs. What more could he ask for? 

"So hum … I was thinking we could hum … I mean if you want to we could-we could go to dinner … together?"

"But we just had dinner two hours ago, you can't possibly still be …"

"No I meant not now, another day … like next week-end or …"

"Oh right. Well yeah of course but we have dinner together most days anyway …"

Ugh. He knew that whole dinner thing wasn't a good idea. Between the fact that they had dinner together all the time and the fact that Jemma didn't have a single romantic bone in her body, he should have known exactly how she was going to react. That is, until he saw she was looking up at him and had that mischievous glint in her eyes and teasing smile on her lips and …

"Ugh, you're the worst Jemma!" He cried out and she giggled. Actually giggled at his attempt to ask her out, that awful girl. And Jemma Simmons never giggled, she laughed and smiled and chuckled but she never giggled unless she was … flirting. Oh. Well, she really was the worst but she was also all kinds of amazing and apparently she even worth making a fool himself as he tried to ask her out.

"I didn't mean it like that. I meant that we could go to dinner together someplace … nice. Like a date. No not like date, exactly a date. I'm asking you out on a date, Jemma." he finally let out, never breaking eye contact and he was a bit satisfied to see her eyes go a little wide and to hear the little gasp she let out and that betrayed her own nervous state.

"Well I…" She started. "The thing is … something's bothering me about this whole date thing …" 

Oh no. No no no … She couldn't possibly have teased him so much if she was going to reject him, could she? She couldn't possibly be so cruel?

"You see there's a whole protocol and lots of rules. We'd have to find a day that will suit us both and that probably wouldn't be until next Friday or Saturday. And then we have to dress up and go out and do all kinds of romantic stuff. And then over dinner, we'd get to know each other better and if things go well, I imagine that you'd walk me home and kiss me goodnight and blah blah blah …"

To him that sounded close to perfection so why did she sound so blasé about it? Honestly, if she wanted a less traditional date, he'd be happy to give her just that …

"But the thing is, I already know everything there is to know about you and I kind of want you to kiss me now." 

His face must have looked quite comical as she said that because she couldn't help laughing a bit but then she was looking at him with an infinite fondness and biting her lower lip again and now he knew exactly what that meant. And he supposed he should have kissed her just now but after all, they wouldn't be FitzSimmons if they didn't tease each other mercilessly. 

"Ah. I understand and I know how much you like rules. Last week, we went out to dinner and I remember you being dressed quite nicely so we could say we already had that date."

"I was wearing my usual blouse and jeans Fitz"

"It was a nice blouse AND I was wearing the nice blue shirt you made me buy AND I distinctly remember you were wearing red lipstick because I don't think I've ever seen you wear it before …" 

He'd felt so guilty for not being able to focus on what she was saying and instead indulge in fantasies where that lipstick ended up all smudged around her lips and his and ...

"Yeah it's almost like I wanted you to notice my lips …" She said with a raised eyebrow, grinning when his eyes went wide in obvious understanding. 

"Wha … do you mean-did you … did you try to-to … like … seduce me or …"

"Fitz?" She cut him off. 

"Yeah?"

"Will you please kiss me now?" 

"Oh ..."

Fitz remained frozen for a moment because whatever happened now would be important. It would be nothing like his first kiss. Not that he didn't really like Jenny, he did, it was just that he was in such a hurry to have his first kiss before leaving for the Academy that he'd just dived in without really taking the time to be nervous about it. But this was Jemma, she was important, she was everything and he couldn’t mess it up. Not that he thought he was bad at it. After a few false starts, Jenny had seemed to like it well enough, at least enough to let his hands wander a bit.

He was interrupted in his internal musings and panicky ramblings by Jemma's hand on his shoulder. The other one was still on his waist but she'd turned around a bit so she was facing him and looking at him with a reassuring smile. Of course she knew he'd be scared and her smile and soft touch was everything he needed to finally dive in and meet her in the middle. 

Her lips were so warm and soft as they finally met his that he let out a small contented hum before letting himself melt into it completely. His hand came up to cup her cheek while hers slowly slid from his shoulder to the nap of his neck and into his hair. She did seem to like his hair. The kiss was sweet and almost chaste at first, both of them too amazed at the feeling of kissing their best friend to do little more than gliding their lips against one another. But then Jemma sighed happily against his lips when he mirrored her gesture and slid his hand into her silky hair and it emboldened him. Parting his lips, he brushed his tongue against her bottom lip and she enthusiastically deepened the kiss. Letting out what he would later insist on describing as a very manly moan, Fitz pulled her as close to him as he could with their legs in the way. He never knew a kiss could mean so much more and. be so much better than the nice feeling of a pretty girl's lips and tongue against his and yet ... Kissing Jemma was the closest thing to a religious experience he'd ever felt. Electricity seemed to course through his body from every point of contact, their lips, their tongues, their hands, the skin of her arms, her hair, everything. The little keening noises she made every time he seemed to do something good sent his blood boiling with want and it was only the thought that they hadn't come out for air yet that stopped him from going further and let his hands wander in slightly less innocent territories than her face, neck and shoulders. At the very least, he needed to tell her it wasn't just that for him. He'd told her he found her beautiful and she knew of his affection for her, to a certain point at least, but she had to know that she was so much more than that for him, that she was in fact everything. 

Jemma was the one to break the kiss after another minute, but she still pressed a few more breathless kisses to the corner of his lips before pulling out completely, he noticed with a slight grin. 

"Wow!" She let out in a whisper as she let her forehead fall on his shoulder to catch her breath. 

"Yeah …" He agreed, his smile only getting wider. Considering how very little experience he had and how Jemma seemed to have dated at least a little bit more than he had, he'd been worrying about not being good at this but, like everything else it seemed, they were better together. 

"Jemma?" He asked almost shyly as he tilted her chin up so he could see her face. "There's something else I've been meaning to tell you because ... I meant it when I said you're beautiful because well … just look at you …" He trailed off, running a finger softly from her hairline to the tip of her nose and ending on those deliciously tempting lips of hers. She was blushing by the time he made it to her chin, which only made her look prettier and for a second, he was distracted by the way she lightly kissed his finger before he had the time to take it away from her. "Anyway …" He said, clearing his throat. "You're not just that, beautiful I mean, you're incredibly kind and funny and annoyingly smart …" And her small fond laugh was all he needed to go through with the really important part of his sentence. "And I-I … I love you Jemma" 

"Oh Fitz …" 

There was a spark in her eyes and a smile that threatened to split her face in two and he really liked it when she said that with that tone in her voice.

"I love you too Fitz …" She breathed and before he could even sigh in relief, she captured his lips again in a kiss that seemed to be infused with the same tenderness he felt for her. But before it had the time to turn into something more, she broke the kiss again. 

"Also" she whispered against his lips "If we're confessing mildly embarrassing secrets, you have to know that I was actually extremely scared that you wouldn't wake up that day in the hospital …" She finished, looking down like she was actually embarrassed of saying something he found so heartwarming. 

"But … but you hated me back then …" 

Finally looking up, she took his hand away from her arm and placed them both over his heart where she could probably feel how it was still pounding from her words and their passionate kisses. 

"No actually … I like to believe that we just hadn't found the key to understanding each other … I mean don't get me wrong you were absolutely infuriating" She grinned. "but there was no one else I could have such passionate conversations with … there still isn't …" 

"Oh so you're saying I was just your only option if you didn't want to die out of boredom?" He retorted, frowning in mock offense. 

"That's exactly what I'm saying … fortunately for me, my only option also turned out to be pretty adorable …" She said, closing the gap between them until he could almost feel the warmth of her lips on his. "AND an excellent kisser …" 

And then she was kissing him again and this time she was apparently done talking because she used her hand on his heart to pull him to her until they were both lying down, face to face with their heads on her pillows, the laptop and movie long forgotten at the end of the bed. As the kiss grew in intensity, the minx let her hand wander down his back and up under his shirt. He recoiled from how completely freezing it was but then she pulled him even closer, molding their bodies together and suddenly he didn't mind her hand so much. Actually, keeping Jemma Simmons warm had become his number one mission in life. He hugged her to his chest as close as possible, his own warm palm sliding slightly under her t-shirt and she giggled in delight. For months now, she'd been trying to leech out all his warmth through her icy hands and if that also meant having her in his arms, he'd gladly let her do it for the rest of their lives. 

"Also …" He mumbled against her lips as their kisses turned softer again. "… my mum never told me to give you shortbreads, I used them as an excuse to come talk to you because I liked the conversation we …" 

She flung herself at him this time, pushing him on his back and hovering over him as she kissed him with a laser like focus, biting at his lower lip and brushing her tongue to soothe the bite, and apparently intent on making him let out another one of those less than manly moans. 

"Oh Fitz?" She let out as she diverted her kisses to his jaw and neck. 

Okay, he might like it even better with that tone of voice AND her lips on his skin. 

"You know … I really like your accent …" 

"WHAT?" 

"Hey …"

The pout on her face as he pulled back was almost enough to make him forget all about it and keep on kissing her. Almost. 

"After all the time you spent making fun of it?" 

"Well, I didn't like it at first!" She answered, rolling her eyes. "It just kind of grew on me … especially since I … we …" 

And now she was blushing and not quite meeting his eyes. Why would she be blushing about liking his accent? He knew for a fact his accent was absolutely delightful, nothing wrong with admitting it unless … the way she'd said it as they were kissing … did she actually like his accent like that? Oh no, that was delightful. 

"Oh no I knew it, you liked from the beginning …"

"No I didn't!" She cried out, swatting his chest half heartedly. 

"Oh yes you did, and you just had to to be mean just so you could stop yourself from jum … mmmph …"

"Fitz?" She asked, again with that enticingly low tone of voice she used earlier, as she kept her fingers in front of his mouth to prevent him from talking. "Do you really want to keep arguing about it now or would you rather keep on kissing me?"

Fitz was convinced that her using her feminine wiles on him meant that he was probably on to something but then, looking at her flushed cheeks, swollen lips (his doing) and mussed hair (also his doing), he decided that if there was ever a time when winning an argument against Jemma Simmons wasn't the priority, that was it. 

After all, he swore an oath to keep her warm and Leo Fitz was nothing but a man of his word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay I'm done and almost on time !   
> Hope you liked that last chapter and the whole story :)
> 
> Also, you can make it be whatever you want but in my head, the movie they were watching was obviously "Pride and prejudice and zombies" and Jemma chose it because she'd been trying to seduce him since she realized her own feelings. So being Jemma Simmons, she reasoned that the best kind of movie to watch if you wanted to seduce someone was either romance to get him in a romantic mood, or horror so she'd have one more reason to get closer to him. So, of course, she found one that had both!


End file.
